Text written by Alicia Martínez (English and German Teacher at AIT)
Reading an interesting book has always been a pleasure for bookworms.
On one hand it is a way to see the world through the eyes of another person, to live in another reality just for the moment you want or to be another person for some time. Reading can be done anywhere and it prevents boredom and promotes relaxation.
On the other hand, it encompasses a wide range of genres and includes both fiction and non-fiction.
- Fiction: Novels, short stories, jokes, comics, poetry, lyrics, plays and scripts
- Non-fiction: Reference books, newsletters, letters, emails, biographies, memoirs, newspapers, magazines, websites
Today I would like to talk about a novel called “The grass is singing”. This novel was written by British Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing and the most significant postcolonial writer. It was her first novel, published in 1950.
The novel begins with a newspaper clipping about the death of Mary Turner, a white woman, killed off by her black servant Moses for money. The news actually acts like an omen for other white people living in that African setting. After looking at the article, people behave as if the murder was very much expected. The bulk of the novel is a flashback of Mary Turner’s life up to her murder at the hand of Moses in the last chapter.
When you usually read a murder mystery novel you expect to know the name of the murder at the very end after going through the whole novel. But not in this novel as you know it from the very beginning and the author leads you through the protagonist´s miserable life on her husband´s unsuccessful farm.
Start reading
Adapted version clicking here
Penguin version clicking here
Once you start one cannot stop reading!
Questions on the text:
1. Who is found murdered?
2. Who is arrested for murder?
3. What is the extraordinary thing about the murder?
4. Who are the Afrikaners?
5. Who knows more about the Turners than anyone else?
6. Who discovered the body?
7. How many miles does Slatter live from the Turners?
8. How does Slatter notify the police about the murder?
9. Who confesses to the crime?
10. What type of car does Charlie drive?
