The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis de Sepúlveda (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 27

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda, which tells the story of the unlikely relationship between an orphaned seagull and a group of cats, who raise her as one of their own. Behind Sepúlveda’s heartwarming and often comical tale lies a serious message: the story’s animals can teach us a great deal about working together, accepting our differences and protecting the world around us. The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly was an immediate critical and commercial success: it won a number of awards, and has been translated into several languages. Luis Sepúlveda is an award-winning Chilean-born author known for both his writing, which spans an impressive range of genres, and his firm stances on political and environmental issues.

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Leseprobe

Luis Sepúlveda

Chilean writer

Born in Ovalle (Chile) in 1949.Notable works:The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (1989), novelÚltimas noticias del Sur (“Latest News from the South”, 2012), novelHistoria de un perro llamado Leal (“Story of a Dog Named Loyal”, 2016), novel

Luis Sepúlveda was born in Ovalle, Chile in 1949. He took a stand early on against the regime of General Pinochet (Chilean president, 1915-2006), which resulted in his imprisonment and exile. He then travelled across South America and fought against the dictatorship. In 1982, he moved to Hamburg and began working as a journalist. He rose to fame with his first novel, The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, which describes the life of the Shuar indigenous people who he had spent a year living with. A successful author, he tackled a wide range of genres, taking as his subject the historic events of the 20th century (The Name of a Bullfighter, 1994; La locura de Pinochet y otros artículos [“The Madness of Pinochet and Other Articles”], 2003; La sombra de lo que fuimos [“The Shadow of What We Were”], 2010) or daily life (for example, the daily life of a cynical hitman in Diario de un killer sentimental [“Diary of a Sentimental Killer”], 1998).

The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly

A tale for all ages

Genre: taleReference edition: Sepúlveda, L. (2016) The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly. Trans. Sayers Peden, M. Richmond, Surrey: Alma Books Ltd.1stedition: 1996Themes: environment, promise, solidarity, courage, pollution, learning, animals

This tale, which was first published in 1996 and is dedicated to Sepúlveda’s children, is aimed at both children and adults. It tells the story of a seagull who is caught in an oil slick and gives her egg to a cat in the port of Hamburg so that he can protect and raise the chick. This short narrative deals with universally relevant themes such as mutual support, the environment, courage and life lessons, and invites the reader to reflect on the relationship between humans and animals. The book has been translated into many languages and has won a number of awards, such as France’s Prix Sorcières for children’s literature in 1997.

Summary

The oil slick

A group of seagulls are flying to meet up with the other seagulls to lay their eggs and raise their chicks. On the way, they stop near Hamburg to feed. One of the seagulls, Kengah, is daydreaming and does not hear her companions’ cries warning her that she is about to hit an oil slick. She tries to fly away but she is submerged. While she is looking for a way out, she remembers the story that an old seagull told about a human called Icarus. Inspired by this story, when she finally manages to fly away, she flies close to the sun so that the oil that is sticking to her wings will melt. However, this does not work, so she flies inland.