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THE WINDBAG
Britain’s best selling quality daily

Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mrs. Mussolin
Carnaby Street
London, England

Dear Editor,
A few days ago I was at the Electric House, a members’club on Portobello Road in West London founded in 1995 as a home from home for people who have something in common: a creative  soul. It is a place for eating, drinking and socializing and an opportunity to grow intellectually and spiritually and improve our lives. In our society it is easy to zero in on material pleasures while neglecting our spiritual and intellectual dimensions, but at the Electric House, where members can play records from the large collection of vinyl and borrow books from the library, which contains deep and rich collections, it comes naturally to enrich mind and soul.
I went there with a desire to detach myself from the chilly climate which characterizes the ravishing and melancholic capital of England. I entered the wood-panelled space, I sat at a table and lift the dust cover from the turntable on it. I placed the record on the plattern and the needle of the tonearm on the outermost grooves in the record. I luxuriated in a sense of peace and quiet, sipping a cup of black tea and listening to music.
My composure last no longer than fifteen minutes.
Eight undergraduates were seated at the table next to mine, they were training for a debate tournament. I do not like to eavesdrop on other people’s conversation, but they grew heated as they spoke and this aroused my interest.
Their words shook me up: they were like a bitterly cold rain that soaked me to the bone. My heart began to beat faster and a queasy mixture of fear and disgust tightened its grip on my stomach. The record ceased spinning.

Compatriots, a new law may be approved… Are you willing to burn books? I am not.

“Mankind is made great or little by its own will.”
Friedrich Schiller

Dear Editor,
I know that my voice is nothing more than an annoying whisper, but it is difficult to ignore a murmur when everyone else is a silent onlooker. I am writing to you because I am aware of the fact that “The Windbag” is a highly influential newspaper and therefore it is my chance to shape the public opinion, to convince people to oppose Book Burning. Nowadays the value of books seems to have been forgotten by many people, not only by adults but especially by young people who nine times out of ten dislike reading and prefer to spend their leisure time in a different way.

Let me refresh your memory in the twinkling of an eye…

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
Victor Hugo

Books enhance our lives, improve the relationships we establish with other human beings and the connection, even more delicate, that we have with ourselves.
The reader dives in a world that does not belong to him by identifying himself with the characters: he empathizes with their dilemmas, their satisfaction and concern and he forgets about the real life that awaits him beyond those bewitching and captivating words.
The reader manages to alienate by  throwing his ordinary life behind him, immagination and empathy develop. Books are ideas, thoughts, pieces of the human soul and this is why it is impossible to remain impassive while reading: the reader is overwhelmed by powerful and exquisite emotions, he is plunged in a state of deep reflection, he makes judjments  and forms opinions. Regardless of whether they contain moral or immoral thoughts, books are necessary: they are tools for fighting mental laziness and mediocrity. Books are the mirror of human emotions and thoughts, and, therefore, Book Burning means genocide. No book ought to burn.

To persuade you, I am going to make a concrete example:

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
Oscar Wilde

The novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, written by Oscar Wilde and published in 1890, takes place in the height of the Decadent artistic movement of the late 19th Century,  which took place in the Victorian Era. Wilde was the major exponent of the moovement.
The main character of the novel  is the young and good-looking Dorian Gray. He acquires awareness of the benefits of his fascination when the painter Basil Hallward, Dorian’s friend , gives him a portrait, which faithfully  represents the handsome boy in the height of his youth.
Also Lord Henry Wotton plays a key role in the dandy’s life : Wotton, with his extremely articulate speeches captures the attention of the boy who, totally biguiled by Lord Henry, starts cosidering youth and beauty to be the only aspects of life worth pursuing, Dorian starts envying the portrait, which will be eternally gorgeous and youthful while the lad will grow old. This envy leads to the curruption of the pure, innocent, untouched, unexperienced soul of the young man: he essentially decides to sell his soul, to sacrifice morality and ethics to get eternal youth and beauty, but this fact leads to his own death.

I know what you are thinking…” Why is she writing about this book?”

In the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Oscar Wilde analyses human nature and, with a sublime poetical language, sets forth its contradictory features: it is described both as a den of iniquity and as pure beauty .
Could we deliberately decide to throw away this masterpiece? What would human beings be without their weaknesses, vices and sins? What would human existence be without beauty?
Beauty means art: fair and dirty at the same time, full of magnificence and anguish, man’s finest creation.
We do not have the power to alter human nature.
Being an aesthete means being able to create and appreciate praiseworthy works of art that arise from distress, from decay, putrefaction. Man reworks the vices, like those of Dorian Gray, and makes art of them. We could not live without beauty, because art is the only thing that is capable of saving human beings from their worthlessness.
However there should be moderation:  our conscience and our ideals should keep us from transforming the appreciation of visual arts in decay. Indeed, Dorian Gray’s soul rots away, because, always in pursuit of eternal youth and beauty, the lad forfeits his conscience: in the absense of equilibrium man tends to exalt absurd extremisms, which lead to the loss of his humanity.
Nowadays human beings forswear art: the canons are increasingly being twisted to pursue absolutely unnatural forms of beauty; we do not have a taste for harmony, the essence of nature and, therefore, of the world itself. We often reckon that beauty is directly linked to the physical appearance,  transforming something that is originally fine into a superficial thing: beauty may include also the physical appearance of things, but, above all, it is embodied in art, the fruit of man’s sensibility. By disavowing superficiality and straining to appreciate true beauty, which is intrinsic to human nature, we will be able to live fully.
No book ought to be burn, especially  books that stab and wound us. Burning this book would be like denying  an important part of human nature.
Hoping you take my letter in to consideration,
Nicole Mussolin

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(at the end of the page there is the recording)

“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours”
John Locke

A handful of things are capable of filling me with unrestrained delight, with infinite satisfaction, with an unlimited sense of wonder: I read books  to detach myself from  reality, to master the art of reasoning and feeling, the art of being empathetic and being able to untangle the emotions that burn under my skin. Thanks to books we can isolate ourselves from other human beings, in another world, in another time and we are given the chance to become readers of our own nature.
Reading consists both in opening ourselves to the writer’s being, viewpoint and value judgment and in reacting and responding to the author’s opinions, in fact light arises out of the clash of ideas. Reading tickles our intellectual, imaginative and empathic skills and it elevates our moral fibre, conscience, sensibility and awareness.
But what does it mean being incapable of reading or refusing  to read in our society?
Reading means progress. Throughout history reading has been forbidden to entire societies to curb people’s capability of reasoning , transforming human beings in nothing more than toy soldiers, in inactive, lazy and mediocre citizens, in slaves. This limitation on reading is a crime against humanity, against liberty, against equality. Powerful and influential people fear that in books we may find revolutionary ideas, threats to their mastery: in fact  reading is not simply alienation but diving in ideas, most books are not merely a sanctuary but they also embody the ambition to make a concrete and efficient difference to our society.

“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”
George Raymond Richard Martin

There are three crimes that have been committed and are still being committed against books: “Book Burning”, “Book Banning” and “Censorship”. Do you know the difference?

Censorship is the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive “ or harmful, and it happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on other human beings, it concerns the interference in the key issues of a work of art. Censorship is usually linked to the government who is interested in preventing the disclosure of information which are contrary to its own interests, but
it can be carried out also by private pressure groups. There are two types of Censorship: external censorship and internal censorship. The latter is subtler than the former because in this case censorship is self-imposed, it is a punishment that people have chosen for themselves, in fact the pressure exerted by other’s ideas can jeopardize our willingness to express ourselves truthfully.  I think that this quote by Yevgeny Yevtushenko speaks for itself
“When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.”

Here is a modern example of self-imposed censorship:
In the People’s Republic of China culture is to a large extent at the service of the Communist Party and its priority: to keep ruling over the most populous country in the world. Therefore in the newspapers, on the web, in books and essays the citizens have to avoid these topics: democracy, separation of powers, portraits of Senior Party officials and their families, self determination and the 3 T: Tibet, Taiwan and Tiananmen. Beyond these delicate political issues, the other taboo subject is sex, that, according to the party, threatens the morality of the citizens. These system is so rooted that the Chinese authors are censoring themselves: they avoid writing about these sensitive issues and therefore lose credibility.
However there is irony even in censorship, because Fahreneit 451,  a novel about the value, the future, the banning and burning of books written by Ray Bradbury, was bowdlerized: in 1992 the students of Venado Middle school in Irvine utilized copies of the book with some words blacked out. The school board believed the language to be inappopriate for students and the subject matter to be blasphemous.
Many people believe that sometimes censorship is appropriate, for example when the subject matter of a book encourages lifestyle choices that are not of the norm or when it encourages racism towards other people. In my opinion no idea ought to be erased,not  even the most immoral one, because thoughts arises from the clash between divergent ideas…every idea is food for thought.

A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library, bookstore or classroom because of its controversial and inappropriate subject matter. Possession of banned books can carry legal penalties as prison time, torture or death. Many books have been banned and are being banned due to a misunderstanding about their issues. A book may be banned on social, political, religious and sexual grounds.
George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm” is a notorious example of Banned Books. Orwell completed this famed satirical novel in 1943 but he found that no publisher would print the book. "Animal Farm" is an allegory of the communist revolution, of the class conflict that had been transformed into Stalin’s totalitarianism: the conversion from "all animals are equal” to “ some animals are more equal than others ". Remember?
However, in 1944 Stalin was an ally of England in the fight against Hitler’s regime: this is why British journalists voluntarily censored the cruel nature of Stalinism, none spoke his  mind; British public opinion was kept in the dark about the Holodomor, the man-made famine that happened in Ukraine and about Stalin’s purge trials: in fact over one million people were killed only because they were suspected of not being blindly loyal to the tyrant.
In 1932 “Brave New World” Huxley’s most well-known novel, was labelled as extremely blasphemous and was banned in Ireland due to references of sexual promisquity and because the subject matter of the book was believed  to encourage damaging lifestyle choices, this includes for example drug abuse.

Book Burning is a major crime,  it is the incineration of literature that threatens for example government’s authority or goes against religious and moral values. For centuries people have been burning libraries. History is an endless list of Book Burnings, and thanks to these abhorrent events the cultural identities of entire nations have become nothing more than dust in the wind.  when you have very strong religious or political beliefs, when you are a fanatic, you do not respect other people’s ideas if they are far removed from yours, they frighten you: ideas are embodied in books, this is why fanatics burn them. But If we destroy all of the books that raise questions, we will lose the ability to discuss them at all we will lose the capability of thinking independently.
Knowledge is power
Totalitarian regimes and fanatics burn books and control mass media because they want to prevent people from contemplating  their situation and what they have been deprived of, as the right to read  and therefore the freedom of thought and expression. This would lead to the birth of revolutionary ideas capable of threatening those who hold power. People who should protect us,  who should commit themselves to ensure a welfare state, are those who actually want us unintelligent, submissive and blind.  Isn’t it disgusting and disturbing.

are you willing to live in a world without books, without ideas, without those thoughts that do not let us sleep at night? Are you willing to live in a world without shades?  Not for love nor money!

Ray Bradbury said

“You must write every single day of your life... You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads... may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”

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I apologize but my spreaker doesn't work.  if you can not hear it I'll try to send it to you by email.

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Dear editor I decided to write to you this letter because it's enough! This morning I read an article, if I can call it in this way, that is definitely the worst ever! Where do you find the courage to write that horrible words? How could you burn books? I mean, are you aware about what you wrote or not? Every book, every page of a book, every line of a page, every word of a line has a meaning, if you burn books you burn life, words, thoughts, knowledge, culture, ideas, human rights, human beings. Why do we have to regress? Think a moment for example to my favorite book, "Mille splendidi soli" (A Thousand Splendid Suns) is a novel of 2007, the second of the American writer of Afghan origin Khaled Hosseini.The book tells the story of two girls, Mariam and Laila and is set in Afghanistan, right in the period of the most difficult conflicts. It made me appreciate even more the value of being a free woman and not a man's slave, in a culture where women are not considered human beings but only objects to be used! Is one of the best book I've ever read! There is also a quotation that represent the book and the women rights " As the compass needle marks the north, so the accusing finger of man always finds a woman to blame." Think if you burn a book like this one, think of all women who are victims of their men, think of all women forced to marry much older and unloved men, to all women who are mistreated because they are women.. This, as all the other book is open minded, and if you burn them, you burn yourself. Vanessa

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TASK 2: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13498256

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Dear editor,

I know you receive thousand of letters every day, but i hope you will have a little time to read mine.

I want to start my letter with a name: Book Burning.

I'm sure you know what I am talking about and I also know that you may be wondering: "Why did you mentioned that?"...so that's the point.

During these last weeks at school I dealt with the Nazi book burning: I studied and analyzed its historical and cultural context, I looked for photos and videos and I read texts about this event.

I immediately understood it was something tragic,but I realized its brutality when I came back home.

I was reading one of my favorite books "A thousand splendid suns" by Khaled Hosseini when I started to bombard myself with questions: what if another Book Burning would happen again? What if my book would have been burnt?

If all of this would be repeated, I would also loose this beautiful book I am reading at this very moment and I don't want it to disappear.

"A thousand of splendid suns" is one of the best books I've ever read: it could be considered food for thought, but also a slap in the face and I actually think it is extremely inspiring too.

The story takes place in Kabul and its background is characterized by the Arab wars and the war between the USA and Afghanistan: in the narration, we follow the stories of two women, whose lives will meet in an unexpected way.

The author is a genius,but also a fool: through symbols, metaphors and analogies he gives us important messages and faces issues like the relationship between man-woman,the role of the woman in the society and sets out the cultural and social aspects of the life in Afghanistan. He also accuses the violence against women, he casts light on the denial of the human rights (mainly the women's one) and the violence procured by the war and the terrorism. Hosseini wants to spread his novel in order to reach the largest number of readers : he wants to share what he saw with his own eyes, he wants to make people conscious of what is still happening in countries like Afghanistan.

But in the book we don't find only tragedies and pain ( both physical and pshychological ) but we are also direct witnesses of the strength of the protagonists in order to face the obstacles, we take part to moment of hope and desire of freedom.

This book opens your eyes and discloses new horizons, makes you reflect upon your own existence and makes you reassess the reality of things. Thanks to the great capability of the writer, we easily identify with the characters, we learn new life lessons and we learn how to face the problems and the difficulties we have in our daily life.

It could be considered an emblem or an example of the struggle against the indifference, silence and the hidden truth.

If there weren't people like Hosseini lots of us wouldn't even know about the "slavery" and the abuse of women, the bloodshed caused by the terrorists and the wars, poverty, the life conditions of the population's majority in Afghanistan.

This reflection made me think about what would happen if "A thousand of splendid suns" would be burnt...all the attempts to make everyone aware of what occurs away from their eyes would be something useless and would vanish forever.

This book should be preserved as an inestimable treasure so that not only nowadays,but also the future generations would have the opportunity to benefit from this fantastic novel.

I hope you will take into consideration my letter so that you might judge my points of view as something interesting and something to reflect upon.

Best regards,

Anna

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Dear editor,

I am writing to you this letter because I want to let you know what my favorite book is.

Starting from the fact that I had some difficulties choosing the one that involved me the most, and considering that no book should be burned, so that we (as human beings) can preserve knowledge, so that the future generation understand what happened before their birth, I chose “ Se questo è un uomo” by Primo Levi.

I chose this book, even though his story is not that happy, because when I started reading it I immediately plunged myself into it; it is breathtaking!

Why saving it from being burned? Well, the answer is easy. Everybody should read a book like this because I think the author gave all himself to involve the reader, bringing him in an abstract situation where, unfortunately all the things told by him existed.

This book is not only a set of pages, it is a life pill because if there wouldn’t be this type of books, evil people (for ex. Nazis) would deny everything about the millions of death of innocent people, cause by a man (even though I think that somebody that behaves like that shouldn’t be called a MAN anymore) that a day woke up with the idea of DELETING all the people that were different from him, from his RACE.

This is why I think that no book should be burned! Every single one tells a different story, but, unfortunately, humanity seems not understanding this.

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( I sent to you an e-mail)

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Dear editor, I am writing to you this letter to talk about a book I really love.
This book is A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by the Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini.
The protagonists of the novel are Mariam and Laila, even if they are born in different    places and with different ideas about love and famiy they are both brought up togheter into the war, loss and fate.
As they endure the dangers around them they form a bond that makes them sisters to each other and this bond will be fundamental to save them.
The story is breath-taking, it wraps you in its fascination and involves you with the characters in such a way that you feel entirely immersed in them.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history,   it gives witness to what the world was like in Afghanistan, how and why the things changed,  what it meant for the people and women of the country and why there is still female oppression all over the world.
This book makes us understand the world we are part of, and the suffering that happens in far corners of the world, while we live in our bubble.
Now I beg you so that this book cannot be destroyed.
I think that burning is an act of violence and negation because books contain ideas, knowledge which can make us able to think and to enlarge our imagination.
Books are memory which can makes people question how things are, see the faults in the world and sometimes it helps people not to commit the same errors of fhe past again.
The cultures have been trying for centuries with different forms to keep a memory of themeselves, in order to show to the future generations how they lived and which are the most important values.
Books is one of those forms and if we destroy them, we destroy the basis of a society.
Books are not just a set of sheets or words but they can bring you into emotions and give words with a special new meaning.
Finally books cannot speak to us but they can make us alive.
I hope you will take my letter into consideration and help me to stop the killing of books.
Respectfully,
Gloria

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“E dimentichiamo spesso e volentieri di essere atomi infinitesimali per rispettarci e ammirarci a vicenda, e siamo capaci di azzuffarci per un pezzettino di terra o di dolerci di certe cose, che, ove fossimo veramente compenetrati di quello che siamo, dovrebbero parerci miserie incalcolabili.”

Dear Bookworm,

I hope to have caught your attention by quoting one of my favourite novels, “The late Mattia Pascal” by Luigi Pirandello.

I really appreciate the fact that the literary column this week has been dedicated to censorship, which is an extremely contemporary issue, and not just in those country where dictators are in power and it can be spot more easily.

I started wondering what makes a novel so “less worthy” than others as to be cancelled, wiped out, censored. I though what it would have meant to me if “The late Mattia Pascal” had not existed, or, for better saying, if I had been denied the possibility of approaching it.

Even though I read it quite a long time ago, I still remember the impact it had on me. It is an eye-opener, a page-turner. I mean, really. I know it may seem somehow odd to have an adolescent talking this way about a classic, but I swear that even though some passages of the novel were rather hard to follow due to all the philosophical reflections they contain, this book managed to involve me deeply and to prompt challenging thinking processes in my mind, making me reflect upon things I would not have had the occasion of questioning otherwise. Reaching therefore the purpose why literature is written: get to people’s hearts and minds, awakening them, not leaving them passive.

Its plot is extremely entangling itself since it depicts a situation everyone of us has imagined at least once in life: that of starting a brand-new life in a place where nobody knows you, leaving all the troubles of your “former-life” behind. It seems so exciting, doesn’t it? At first, it was so for Mattia Pascal too.

But then, delving into the chapters, the reader faces something that goes far beyond the bare storyline. He finds himself plunged into the head of the main character, gets to know his complex musings upon the very existence of man and his meaning on this planet (as we can easily grasp through the words I have quoted before, just to provide an example). Humanity is drastically scaled down to what it really is (but often its innate self-centeredness prevents it to be fully aware of): a species among the others, nothing more. A group of similar-looking individuals, whose daily problems acquire actually little importance if compared to the magnificence of the universe we live in.

Moreover, this novel develops in an interesting way the issues of identity and that dear to the author of masks too. The reader is spurred into feeling empathy towards Mattia, torn between his being a somebody and contemporary a nobody, since after his “first death” to the authorities he does not exist any longer, thus cannot live a “real life”, marrying the girl he is in love with or denouncing a crime he is victim of.

“The late Mattia Pascal” provides really plenty of food for thought. And so does any other book ever written that, by being a product of someone’s mind, can therefore tickle, arouse in other thinking heads, thoughts that otherwise would probably have never been awakened.

So why censoring? Why denying to somebody the possibility of questioning, investigating, therefore thinking and knowing?

In the hope you will continue to spur readers into reflecting upon issues like that of censorship, making people aware of what they would be unjustly deprived of if books did not exist, gratefully,

Giulia

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https://www.spreaker.com/user/8544642/book-burning

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Good morning Editor,
I love reading. I have always do, since I have memory. Unfortunately, I am not having as much time to read as I would, I am quite busy and finding the time to enjoy a book is not so easy. I am already hearing your voice saying that if reading were really a passion of mine, I would easily find out the time for that. You are right, I have no excuses, I will work on that.
Anyway, I was telling you that I like reading, but I still have to confess you my favourite book. I have lots. I like many books, some more that others obviously, I am not able to make a choice. Some deal with love, some with horror adventures, and some about difficult issues. Last summer I read a book, whose title is Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. It is set in France during the 1940s, when the Nazi troops occupied the country and some of them started living in the same house with French citizens. This book deals with two of my favourite themes: love and history. There is a wonderful love story between the French Lucile, whose husband is a German’s prisoner, and the German general Bruno, who has a lovely heart and lives with Lucile and her strict mother-in-law. I loved this book, that was published posthumous sixty years later, because it shows different kind and face of people: cynicism, meanness, cowardice, arrogance, vanity, bravery, love and pity are all dealt in the book through different characters and it explains how people, who are in a state of difficulty, can react in many different ways. There is also a very important part of history in the novel, since it is set during the Second World War and it a new evidence of what happened in the past. As a matter of fact, the book is taken from a real story. Bruno, the German general who decides to help his lover and to go against his nation, raises another important issue. Often people have a sort a prejudice, according to which all German people who lived during the Nazism, were in favour of Hitler and in favour of the Jewish genocide. Even if Bruno did not desert, he helped the citizens and went against his principles, saying that he had nothing in common with the other soldiers. I think it is essential analysing also this aspect of this powerful, rich and meaningful novel, in order not to give anything for granted.
Recapitulating, there are plenty of reasons why I love this book and why burning it would be an act of violence and negation: the fundamental issues it deals with, its historical importance, love, which is always a theme that unifies people.
Let me think I you agree with me, I am quite curious!

Marta Manfrin

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https://www.spreaker.com/user/8546647/the-importance-of-books

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Dear Magazine,

I’m writing to you because I think we do not learn from the biggest mistakes of humanity: burning books and, more superficially, censorship. Nowadays more and more books are written in the “black list” of books which are not possibly be bought and read. Why I am writing to you with words full of anxiety and disappointment? Because, in my opinion, we as humans have already made a blunder in burning books and I'm worried about a possibility of it to come back again. Unfortunately the process has began with censorship and with banned books. Is it the world we want to leave in? Without books there will be no independent thoughts and without them there will be no humans.

In particular, one book that i really want to preserve because i loved it, when i read it, is “One, No One and One Hundred Thousand” by Luigi Pirandello. Even while reading, I immediately enjoyed the atmosphere the author creates around the protagonist. Why I want to preserve it? I think it is a rhetorical question, because a masterpiece like this must be read by everybody! Every human being can see himself in the protagonist, because all of us wants to find out who we really are and feel free from whatever. Reading it is very worth and when I see quotes or paragraph taken from this novel, they remind me at the moment of complete involvement when i have read it: something special. I want to make possible to other people to feel in the same way of mine and I think it is not something impossible. It must be possible, because it must not even exist the idea of proibite some books!

I would be very glad if this letter will be published.

With love, Matteo Basso

TASK 2
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13489669https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13489669

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Dear Editor,

I write to you hoping you have a few minutes to spare me.

Do you like Christmas stories? My favorite book of all time is “A Christmas Carol”, Charles Dickens just has a way of charming me into devouring page after page that is entirely unique.

I'm sure everyone has heard of it, there are countless movie adaptations of his novel, even some tv series!
When I think about Christmas, I think of this marvellous story. No character can compare with an icon like Ebenezer Scrooge, who “no warmth could warm” and “no wind that blew was bitterer than”. He's the epitome of the cynic, tight-fisted, self-made man and the protagonist of the ultimate redemption story.

Charles Dickens has a very peculiar style. He describes the settings with particular attention to little details that overall give the readers the opportunity of completely losing themselves in the narration and the continuous repetition of specific words or sentences allows the tale to have a rapid and riveting pace. I think it is safe to say, that “A Christmas Carol” is the most captivating story I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Furthermore, it's a very short read, nothing too complicated, the perfect story for a snowy or cold morning or- even better- a cozy afternoon. I find myself punctually every December leafing through it, and though I know all the words by heart, everytime I can't help shedding a few tears. It's heartwarming seeing Scrooge lose step by step his animosity towards Christmas and it always breaks my heart when I realize that behind such an antagonistic person there is actually a miserable kid and a lonely man.

There is obviously a profound meaning to this story and this is why I think it should be cherished. Not only is it a classic that everyone knows, but it also carries a message that we shouldn't forget and that is to love our fellow human beings and to never, ever extinguish the flame of hope and kindness we carry in our hearts because of material things like money. Life is short and should be spent with our loved ones.

Burning this book, dear editor, would mean denying every virtue we believe in so please, don't let them destroy this invaluable novel.

Respectfully,

Erika

Task 2:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/carpe-noctem/food-for-thought-book-burning

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Dear editor,

I am writing you this letter to talk about a book I really cherish and love and I hope you will take my request into consideration. This book is entitled Mrs Dalloway, written by Virginia Woolf in 1925.

I read it over this summer and I immediately appreciate it.

The story takes place in London. What a beautiful city!

The main characters is Clarissa Dalloway, a woman in her fifties. We, as a reader, are immediately plunged into the story. In fact, the story begins on a Saturday morning in June while Mrs Dalloway is walking around London. The nice day reminds her of her youth spent in the countryside in Bourton and her life is marked by the wrong choice of her husband she took thirty years before. She married the reliable Richard Dalloway instead of Peter Walsh who really loved her when they were young.

While Mrs Dalloway is admiring the flowers she will buy for her party, something strange happens.

There is a violent explosion which made Mrs Dalloway jump and go to the window and apologise came from a motor card which had pulled up precisely opposite the shop.

At this very moment, appears Septimus Warren Smith.  He is a veteran of the war, whose story is told in tandem with Mrs Dalloway's. Septimus suffers from shell-shock and he blames himself Evan’s death, his friend during the War.

With an interior perspective, the reader can fluctuate in the mind of the two characters, being aware of all their thoughts and ideas. I find it very enigmatic technique. Do not you?

More than the plot, what are really considerable in this novel are its themes.

The book deals with the importance of memory. The past affects each character in a different way in the novel.

For Clarissa certain memories are very joyful, such as the kiss with Sally Seton. Mrs Dalloway cherishes this moment as the best of her life.

But for Septimus, the memory is something terrible, really painful which wear out his mind and his life, too. Every place he is, he continues to remember the terrible death of the friend Evan.

Making us enter into the minds of the characters, the novel shows us how memory can sometimes be a weapon because it reminds you of errors, terrible events of the past or, conversely, good moments of youth.

History plays an important role in the book which shows us the condition of British society after World War II. From the attitudes of people, we can immediately understand from which social standing they are from.

Now I'm here to ask you, or even, to beg you because this book cannot be destroyed.
What is the purpose to burn books?

Why do you want to make it just a stockpile of ash?

Please, listen to me.

Books must remain only a stockpile of pages, words.

They represents our knowledge, our source of ideas and thoughts which make our mind alive.

I hope you will bear in mind what I have just told you.

Giorgia

TASK 2
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9239956/spreakerbookburning

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TASK 1: editorial
Dear editor,
I write to your magazine to complain about something I find unacceptable.      A week ago, I bumped into an article which concerned the government’s will of burning some books to prevent people reading them and while reading it I was horrified. I cannot understand how is it possible to permit such a merciless action of cruelty and destruction because books in my opinion are the essence of our life. However, I read the list of the books that are going to be removed and one title in particular has immediately leapt at me. It is “Trash”, which is one of my favorite books. As I saw it I understood that I could not accept the fact that for some reasons that masterpiece could be no more available, and this is the reason why I decided to write this letter of protest.      The novel “Trash” by Andy Mulligan is a wonderful story that describes and denounces some of the main problems that are present in our nowadays world seen through the eyes of poor children, who live their life condition with a naturalness and innocence that to the reader are somehow disruptive.              The gap between poverty and prosperity, the value of money, child exploitation, social hierarchy, lack of education, power, teamwork, friendship, but also waste material, robbery, starvation, corruption, lying: these are only some of the items that hide behind the simple and nice story of the plot, and what are these topics but real problems of our society? This book is a real lesson for all of us to be aware of the existence of cruel realities, such as the one described, that even if we consider somehow abstraction because they do not concern us directly, are unfortunately strongly present in a society that tend to consider more the small problematics instead of the huge, important and dramatic ones, poverty at first.                                                                          The author makes the reader reflect also upon the powerful item of true friendship. In my opinion the meaning of this concept has changed a lot in the years, as a matter of fact for example today people consider to be friendship also a simple correspondence through social networks and media, forgetting that “being friends” includes an emotional part which goes beyond everything. Andy Mulligan describes in this way the real features for friendship through the children-protagonist’s actions and make us question about our emotional bonds. Are we real friends? And do we know what are the consequences of being in a friendship relationship?                                                  This is the power of this book: it makes us reflect through a touching, yet real story and to me it would be surely pointless to burn such a useful work. I cannot stand the idea that “Trash” is going to be eliminated and I think that if this operation will happen, people will be deprived from an extraordinary possibility of better understanding their lives. “Trash” is the key that bust the door wide open and as Raphael says in the book, “everyone needs a key”, deciding to remove it would be inadmissible. It would be insane.

With the great hope that the decision of burning books will be only an unachieved bad nightmare…

Asia Manzato.

TASK 2: podcast
https://www.spreaker.com/user/8544175/podcast

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Task 1: editorial;
Dear Poetry Magazine,

I am here, writing to you about my favourite poetry book, about its greatness, about its massive collection of emotions, feelings. “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur. Simple as it is.

I would call it: “when honey meets milk”, because as sweet and warm as it would seems, it conceals the darkest type of feeling: brokenness. Everyone, at least once in their lifetimes, has suffered: suffered because of love, suffered because of traumatic events, suffered because of loss, suffered because they did not know how to cope with the situation, they had to go through. Rupi did too, Rupi suffered and suffered, until she healed. That is the focal point: the healing, which is one of the longest process in our life. Her words, her lovely verses, her incredible capability to let her deepest and darkest thoughts flow in book pages are what inspired me, what encourage me to keep writing poems and not to give up on everything. That is the power of her poems. Do not give up, keep fighting and do not let anything or anyone suppress your fire. As she wrote in one of her poems:

“it is a part of the / human experience to feel pain / do not be afraid / open yourself to it.”

Burning such precious words is burning her identity, all her fights, all her progresses. Burning her book means to not give anyone the opportunity to understand, to cope with their feelings, to try and fight for something worth fighting for. She does not deserve it, her work does not deserve it, what she really deserves is to be praised. Please do not let anyone go near it. Please, protect it.

Thank you for understanding,

Nicole.

Task 2: spreaker;
https://www.spreaker.com/user/doll.face/book-burning

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TASK 1
Dear readers,
today I share with you a little secret .. or better advice for all lovers of reading but above all for those who think that books are boring.
Two years ago, the Italian teacher recommended us a book to read during the summer. At first I thought I was in front of a difficult and boring book because the title did not tickle my  curiosity. "Uomini e no" was the title, a novel by Elio Vittorini.
This book is set during the Resistance in Milan and the protagonist is a partisan who divides himself into partisan action and love for a married woman. The events are few but significant and the title is a mystery hidden in words ... it is your task to find out what it means.
This book surprised me, it made unexpected, what I thought was sure, what I took for granted.
If this book were burned for me it would be an immense loss because this book filled me of thoughts, questions and ideas. The impossible love, the difficult life of those years, the courage of a man, the sacrifice: all this combined together.
The novel opens our eyes to make us discover a man in all its aspects. Behind every man there are many aspects, many shades, and so in "Enne 2", the protagonist, who is so brave and intrepid, as in love and suffering. It is so in every man that behind the shield, with whom he has to protect himself, he has a deep soul and plenty of things to share.
This book reflects on the eternal relationship between humanity and violence: some are men and others are only flesh and bones. Which comparison can be more true? True men do not kill other men, war would not arise, there would not have been the Holocaust and the many genocides in the world. Have we ever wondered how much man can become "no man"? The examples of history are so many, but it is so difficult to think deeply about this topic that nobody does. Here, this book is a way to go against laziness but so engaging and passionate. Reading this book means to question and doubt what we have always taken for granted, such as altruism, humanity, and mutual love. Rediscover yourself in this book.
This book, if lived in a totalitarian regime, would certainly be a danger. What could be banned in a totalitarian regime, in addition to fight of the protagonist, is surely the end of the book. At the end of the book a partisan boy has to shoot a German boy but he reviews himself in the boy and decides not to shoot. This episode make us reflect upon the fact that we are all equal, enemies and allies. This concept would certainly not be appreciated in a totalitarian regime where an individual tries to subordinate others. Moreover, if we are all equal, we all have the same rights and the same importance. Reading this book a citizen of a totalitarian regime would be wondering why he is inferior to the dictator and why, if we all have the same rights, only a few can express themselves.
So, dear readers, sorry for revealing the end of the book but do not worry ... the best of the final is still a secret! Do you want to find it out? Read the book!
P.S. When I recommend a book I feel like giving some of me to someone because I “live” my books. I underline,  highlight and write on the pages. I do not think to ruin them like this, but just to make them mine. So please, take care of this part of me!

TASK 2
This is my podcast, I hope you will enjoy it.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/8542537/book-burning

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TASK 1:
Dear editor,

I hope you will read my letter, it is very important.

First of all i think that all books can not be burned because every text, every thought, every word, have the right to be read and deserve to be read by everyone. To kill words is a crime because in this way you kill the free thoughts of a writer who only wants people to know his view about something. But this is a little bit predictable. One book that I really loved also because of a personal motivation and because it made me think about real facts that happened to me is “If I stay” by Gayle Forman. The story in this book is about a girl who made an accident with her all family and after that she was the only survivor, but in coma. I do not want to explain my story, but this girl reminds me how i felt in my medically induced coma. In this book are described all her thoughts and what she saw and felt seeing other people crying for her. I’m emotionally tied to this book so it will be very painful to burn it. It is not only because of my story, but because it will be very halpful to all the sick person without hope in their mind. In fact in the end this girl will wake up, even if she wanted to die in a part of the story. Her friends, her boyfriend and her relatieves were her hope, she wanted to wake up only to stop their suffering. Please do not burn this book, do not make this injustice, it does not made anything to you. Please.

Best wishes, Emma

TASK 2:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/8542157/what-if-you-had-no-right-to-read_4

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Task 1

Dear editor,

I am writing you to tell you about one of the books that I cherish most.

When I was twelve years old my father gave me a book and he said ‘You must read it, this book will open your mind, and it will make you reflect upon several things’. So, I started reading I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga. Now, it is one of my favorite books and I have read it three times, even though the first one I was obliged.

I believe that all books should be preserved, none should burn a book, a novel or also a piece of sheet where someone express thoughts and beliefs. We can learn from books, even though they are the most terrible ones.

I consider I Malavoglia a masterpiece, I think that everyone should read this book because I really believe that it opens your mind and make you reflect about the condition of people and their beliefs. It deals with the story of a Sicilian family, who struggles to improve their conditions of life.

This book has a bad end, in fact the family do not better their condition of live but also make it worse.

I believe that this book is something precious and none should destroy or burn it, because without it we will not know how the society in the post unitarian time worked.

It deals with the lowest class of the society, Verga wanted to make us understand how every single effort to climb the social ladder is useless, obviously the author gives a negative perspective, but I appreciate this novel also for this ‘strange’ particular.

I love this book and it represent one of the most fascinated ones, because the way it is written is very involving and thrilling. I know that maybe for a lot of people words, just like ‘’thrilling and fascinating’’, that I have used to describe this novel, could seem very strange and also not so credible, but I deeply believe that this book should be preserved and read from lots of people.

This novel is just a must, one of those classic books that never lose its charm. I particularly liked it because even though it was written in the late 19th century it is still actual and contemporary, in fact it deals with inequalities, the right for a better life’s conditions and social redemption. Also, nowadays we see on the television or read in the newspaper all efforts of people that try to better their life and social status, unfortunately several of them fail.

So, even though this book was written in the 19th century it is still actual because of the themes that Verga uses in his novel, maybe not all the readers will appreciate this book just the way I do it, but I truly believe that this book should not be forgotten or put aside, because it is a must that never loses its charm.

Federica

Task 2
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9267493/podcast

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Task 1: editorial

Dear editor,

I hope you will read this letter because I am about to show you the greatness of a book I read not long ago and found simply amazing: To Kill a Mockingbird.

This book is so touching and rich of themes that we can find in nowadays society even if it is from the 60's. For example racial injustice, abuse, rape, loss of innocence, the hardships of growing up, gender roles. The author did a marvellous job in making us understand them, because the book is told from the point of view of a six-year-old girl and so it is not easy to explain such complicated topics, but Lee Harper did it and I am so thankful. We see the protagonist and her brother growing up not only physically and discovering the injustices of life and the difficulties of conforming to society standards, going from thinking that Boo Radley is a myth haunting the neighbouhood to dicovering that he is just another victim of a close-minded world. Their father is a lawyer, who has to defend a black man form the accuses of rape in front of a court of white men of Alabama in the 30's. And I think that it explains itself.

I want to end my letter with a quote from the book: "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird and that is because they bring no harm, they only delight others with their singing. And in my opinion that is what a book does: brighten up our lives.

Gioia.

Task 2: podcast
https://www.spreaker.com/user/8546803/book-burning

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TASK 1

Dear Literature Magazine,

I am writing to you a letter, which hopefully you will take into consideration. I would like to talk about my favorite book, which is entitled ''Trash'', by Andy Mulligan. ''Trash'' is the first book I read completely in English and I can say that book made me know and realize a few things I had been never aware of before. The book is about the story of a Brazilian boy, Raphael, who lives in Behala and works in a dumpsite. One day he finds a wallet full of money, with a map and a key and he later finds out policemen are looking for it. The book evolves and they find out thanks to the wallet that a senator stole 30 million dollars from an international aid fund. At the end, they find the stolen money and spread it among the dumpsite. This is a very special book for many reasons. It is well written and anybody can read it because the language is not too complicated: this is important, because everyone should have the possibility to read such a story that casts light on the conditions and the life of those less fortunate than us, the ones who have to work starting by childhood even 16 hours a day just to survive. A book like this is the perfect way to get to know other realities, different from ours, from which we can learn a lot: we take for granted what we have and what we can do, but we should not. As we live in the same world, we should help one another, therefore this book will hopefully tickle someone's will and tempt someone to act and help these people. Burning ''Trash'', such a denouncing book, would be convenient for the Brazilian government and all the other governments which ignore, or maybe support, this kind of atrocities und injustices. This shall not happen, because letting governments and criminal organizations go on abusing and enslaving these people would be a sign of indifference, that is what actually kills the world day by day.

Hoping that you will publish my letter supporting me in fighting against indifference and silence,

Best regards

Matteo Chivilò

TASK 2

https://www.spreaker.com/user/9161980/my-podcast-what-if-we-had-no-right-to-re

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TASK 1

Dear Literature Magazine,
the purpose of writing you this editorial is telling you about a book I really cherish: Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens.
I deeply love this novel, because it makes me think that there is a better future for everyone in the end, no matter who you are and from what walk of life you come. The little protagonist has many obstacles to overcome and many adventures to live, and the beginning is really touching, but in the end there is a happy ending which made me smile and cry out of joy the first time I read it.
The novel is perfect in the description of all the characters, not only in their physical aspect, but also in the psychological one. Moreover, it provides the reader a realistic view of the appalling conditions of English people and cities (in particular London) of the nineteenth century.
The more I read the book, the more I identified myself with the little Oliver, and I rooted for him to find his happiness, because children should not suffer like that.
The novel is very involving and that's the reason why I love it so deeply. In fact, when I read it, I felt overwhelmed by the sensation of mercy I felt for the poor Oliver, because he is forced to steal things down the streets of London, in order to survive. And when I read the point in which Oliver is kidnapped again by Sikes and Nancy, I felt so fuming and I wished I could appear in the story and save him.
Burning this book would be something inconceivable to me, it would be a murder, because the novel is a piece of history itself. It deals with the negative aspects of England during the Victorian age: the exploitation of child labor in factories, the appalling conditions of the slums, social injustice, the cons of the industrial revolution and the contrast between the rich owners of the factories and the poor families which worked days and nights to have a roof above their heads and a bed to sleep in. History cannot be burned, and this book MUST NOT.
Hope you will publish my letter,
Best regards
Annalisa Guerra.

TASK 2
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13473508

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TASK 1
Dear Editor,

I hope you will read this letter and understand my ideas about this book.

One of the book that I love most is “Il cacciatore di aquiloni”. The first time I read it, I cried. It was incredible how I felt. I identified myself with the characters. I felt myself part of the book.

This novel spoke to me, it made me think of things that before I could have not even imagine. It made me reflect upon values such as love, friendship and family.

I personally think that burning it would be an act of violence and of negation because without that book people would not have the possibility to compare between the story of the book and their personal life.

For example after having read it, I started asking myself if I had real friends. I started asking myself about love and its meaning.

I believe that burn that book would be a sort of depravation of emotions that all of us could feel.

Emotions are part of life; they make us live better or worse, so I do not think that someone else can decide what it is better for us. I have the right to decide whether I want to read a book or not.

I hope you love reading and you have a specific book you would never ever destroy for any reason.

With the belief that these words will make you reflect, I wish you to feel the same emotions I lived reading “Il cacciatore di aquiloni”.

Best wishes, Anna.

TASK 2
https://www.spreaker.com/user/10252501/podcast_1

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Task 1: Editorial
Dear Poetry Magazine,

I'm writing you to tell you about my favorite book: The Great Gatsby, and why I think it should be preserved at all costs.

I deeply love this book and I think it contains one of best and truest definitions of love ever written in literature.

The words Gatsby uses to describe his undying love for Daisy and how he would do and give up everything for her no matter how far they are and the fact that she married someone else, the detailed descriptions of the memorable parties in Gatsby’s mansion and of New York in the 20’s with its sparkling lights, its wonderful chaos, and the glaring contrast between the shiny splendor of few people and the awful poverty of the majority. All of this makes this book great to me. Everytime I read a quote from this book even by chance while surfing online  it feels like the first time, and I’m showered with a deep sense of bliss.

While reading this book, you are plunged into the story as if you were there with Daisy and Tom and Gatsby, among all the music, the parties and the lights. You really feel what the characters feel, identify with them, laugh and cry as they do.

The feelings this books gives me are unique and burning it would be a brutal act. Something so beautiful should never be destroyed, we and the future generations should be free to read this novel which is a detailed description of a whole historical period with its social and economical dynamics, and among all a precious work of art that needs to be treasured.

Hoping you take my letter into consideration,

Daria

Task 2: Podcast
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9267301/my-thoughts-on-book-burning

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Writers, filmmakers, and television producers implanted the symbolism of the Nazi book burnings firmly in American popular culture.  Ray Bradubury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 attacked book burning, sold over 5 million copies and became a successful film.  Bradbury’s introduction to the 1967 edition of the novel recalls his childhood love of books and libraries: “I ate, drank, and slept books…. It followed then that when Hitler burned a book I felt it as keenly, please forgive me, as his killing a human, for in the long sum of history they are one and the same flesh.  Mind or body, put to the oven, it is a sinful practice, and I carried that with me”.

Think of a book you love and cherish.  Write a letter to a newspaper or magazine defend its existence and state why burning it would be an act of violence and negation.

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What if you had no right to read?  In the light of what you learnt about Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and book burning, look at these satirical posters and state what their aim is.  What message do the posters art convey to you?  How do you distinguish between “book burning”, “banned books”, “censorship”?  Can ideas threaten a nation? Is censorship ever appropriate?

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