It is common knowledge that travelling broadens the mind. Visiting new countries, meeting new people, getting acquainted with their customs, traditions, cultural heritage makes one develop his or her outlook, gives him or her chance to make friends and has a revitalizing and enerzing effect on his or her body and spirit.
To begin with, travelling enlarges our knowledge of the world. No photo, audio or video can fully transmit all colours, sounds and events of a remote place. No description can substitute one’s own impressions from the place. In order to feel the magnificence of the pyramids in Giza, one should walk around them. In order to be inspired with the beauty of a coral reef, one needs to go diving. In order to be stunned with the radiance of the Himalayas, one must go hiking there.
What is more, travelling enables us to meet the representatives of other cultures. To go to the opposite corner of the world means to meet people of different races, nationalities, religious and linguistic groups. To live there for a significant amount of time means to become more tolerant.
Last but not least, travelling presents a great opportunity to escape from the hustle and bustle of the life in the concrete jungle. What could be better than lying on the sandy beach, under the canopy of palm-trees, lulled by the murmur of the sky-blue sea and the songs of the birds of paradise.
To conclude, travelling is the perfect way of broadening one’s horizons, building connections and simply relaxing. Any travel comes, however, to an end, but this does not reduce the charm of it. On the contrary, as Lin Yutang said, ‘No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow’.
воскресенье, 20 февраля 2011 г.
среда, 1 декабря 2010 г.
среда, 6 октября 2010 г.
The Street Lawyer
Review of The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
John Grisham, the master of the legal thriller, has really profound knowledge of the institution of law he is writing about. A former attorney himself, he subjects the world of well-paid legists (and the upper society as a whole) to scathing criticism. The Street Lawyer, first published in 1998 and immediately recognised, is a good example of the subject-matter John Grisham focuses on.
The plot of The Street Lawyer is rather intricate and keeps the reader in suspense till the very end. The story is set in late-20th-century Washington, D.C. and whirls around the life of Michael Brock, the lawyer, who quits Drake & Sweeny, a prospering law firm, in favour of the 14th Street Legal Clinic, a bunch of enthusiasts fighting for the rights of the homeless. Such a seemingly reckless decision is made after the hostage of Michael’s workplace by a mentally-ill person of no fixed abode. Concerned with the motives of the crime, Michael initiates his own investigation, which would reveal the complicity of his firm in the illegal eviction of the poor. The ensuing struggle for the truth and justice is, as it should be, victorious.
In The Street Lawyer, John Grisham puts across the deep humanistic message, topical nowadays. The fate of his characters suggests that scrambling up the social ladder towards better life conditions, bigger wages and fancier luxuries should not be progressing in the prejudice of the luckless. In other words, the famous Machiavellian statement that ‘the end justifies the means’ is very much challenged.
On the whole, I would personally recommend this thought-provoking book everyone who likes discovering secrets of human nature and pondering upon the meaning of life. The Street Lawyer’s complex storyline, eventfulness and vivid, sometimes naturalistic descriptions are believed to make the reader’s interest never flag.
John Grisham, the master of the legal thriller, has really profound knowledge of the institution of law he is writing about. A former attorney himself, he subjects the world of well-paid legists (and the upper society as a whole) to scathing criticism. The Street Lawyer, first published in 1998 and immediately recognised, is a good example of the subject-matter John Grisham focuses on.
The plot of The Street Lawyer is rather intricate and keeps the reader in suspense till the very end. The story is set in late-20th-century Washington, D.C. and whirls around the life of Michael Brock, the lawyer, who quits Drake & Sweeny, a prospering law firm, in favour of the 14th Street Legal Clinic, a bunch of enthusiasts fighting for the rights of the homeless. Such a seemingly reckless decision is made after the hostage of Michael’s workplace by a mentally-ill person of no fixed abode. Concerned with the motives of the crime, Michael initiates his own investigation, which would reveal the complicity of his firm in the illegal eviction of the poor. The ensuing struggle for the truth and justice is, as it should be, victorious.
In The Street Lawyer, John Grisham puts across the deep humanistic message, topical nowadays. The fate of his characters suggests that scrambling up the social ladder towards better life conditions, bigger wages and fancier luxuries should not be progressing in the prejudice of the luckless. In other words, the famous Machiavellian statement that ‘the end justifies the means’ is very much challenged.
On the whole, I would personally recommend this thought-provoking book everyone who likes discovering secrets of human nature and pondering upon the meaning of life. The Street Lawyer’s complex storyline, eventfulness and vivid, sometimes naturalistic descriptions are believed to make the reader’s interest never flag.
среда, 22 сентября 2010 г.
воскресенье, 19 сентября 2010 г.
среда, 15 сентября 2010 г.
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