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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I read this book ready for my PGCE interview at the University of Warwick and I am so glad that I was asked to. I am embarrassed to say that this is the first Michael Morgurgo book that I have read and it certainly won't be the last. Set in the First World War and the years leading up to it, it follows Tommo Peaceful as he grows from a child who blames himself for his father's death to a jaded teenage soldier at the Front. Tommo's voice is surprisingly poetic and flowing which makes all his joys and sorrows so much more keenly felt by the reader. I am actually looking forward to spending some more time thinking about the book, its characters and the heartbreaking denouement ready for my interview presentation.
I read this book ready for my PGCE interview at the University of Warwick and I am so glad that I was asked to. I am embarrassed to say that this is the first Michael Morgurgo book that I have read and it certainly won't be the last. Set in the First World War and the years leading up to it, it follows Tommo Peaceful as he grows from a child who blames himself for his father's death to a jaded teenage soldier at the Front. Tommo's voice is surprisingly poetic and flowing which makes all his joys and sorrows so much more keenly felt by the reader. I am actually looking forward to spending some more time thinking about the book, its characters and the heartbreaking denouement ready for my interview presentation.
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I studied this back in year 7 or 8, the better part of a decade ago. I liked reading it back then, and I really enjoyed reading it as an adult. It was a quick, engaging read, one that instantly sucked me in, perhaps because of the fact I had read it before.
I didn't expect to latch onto Private Peaceful so much. I have a tendency to discredit the books I studied pre-GCSE and during my GCSEs because I view them almost as though they were written to be studied. Not only that, but my engagement with them when I first read them was to analyse them from an often superficial, myopic viewpoint of individual sentences I can analyse in an essay without making a broader point about the themes of the text, as opposed to being able to engage with it as a holistic text.
Being able to engage with it outside of a classroom allowed me to actually emotionally invest myself in the text, and I'll admit that I read the final few pages through tears. It really is one of those books that makes you empathise with ordinary people who get caught up in war, the people who lose their lives so prematurely. Ages ago, I bought a book of war poetry from a charity shop, and I just might finally pick it up.
I didn't expect to latch onto Private Peaceful so much. I have a tendency to discredit the books I studied pre-GCSE and during my GCSEs because I view them almost as though they were written to be studied. Not only that, but my engagement with them when I first read them was to analyse them from an often superficial, myopic viewpoint of individual sentences I can analyse in an essay without making a broader point about the themes of the text, as opposed to being able to engage with it as a holistic text.
Being able to engage with it outside of a classroom allowed me to actually emotionally invest myself in the text, and I'll admit that I read the final few pages through tears. It really is one of those books that makes you empathise with ordinary people who get caught up in war, the people who lose their lives so prematurely. Ages ago, I bought a book of war poetry from a charity shop, and I just might finally pick it up.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
A sobering reminder of the futility of war, the corruption and injustices hidden in our past not just our present, and the importance of resisting and peacefully protesting against current war-mongering.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
sad
tense
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Second reading, and it had me in tears again by the end of it.