Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2 Viewers)

[Craig]

Hey All
I received this book for Christmas and I've just finished reading it. I thought it was brilliant. It actually depicts what its like to be a teenager and for the new year 12 English students it can possibly be used as a supplementary text for area of study. Has anyone else read this book and if so what did you think of it?

 

[PrettyNoose]

yeah i thought it was alright

 

[glitter burns]

It was pretty good (if my memory serves me right, one of the male characters mentioned Isobelle Carmody as a fantastic Australian fantasy author, so it gets points for that, hehe).
It felt like the Marchetta was playing it safe though, a lot of the book was similar (not identical, I know, but in the same vein) as what was in Looking for Alibrandi. I think maybe for her next book she should try expanding a bit, try something new.

If you liked Saving Francesca, you'd probably also like Skylegs by someone Savides. Have you read it?
It's got similar themes as Saving Francesca & Looking for Alibrandi, but I personally liked it better.

 

[babydoll_]

I really liked it, but it seemed too similar to Looking for Alibrandi, like glitter burns said... she could probably move into other genres and still write effectively... but on the whole I liked the book a lot

 

[Craig]

Originally posted by glitter burns
If you liked Saving Francesca, you'd probably also like Skylegs by someone Savides. Have you read it?
It's got similar themes as Saving Francesca & Looking for Alibrandi, but I personally liked it better.

I can't say I have read it. I might look for it actually, as if its similar to Saving Francesca and Alibrandi, then i'm sure I would enjoy it. In what ways do you think its better?

 

[glitter burns]

It's better because it has more depth, more ideas, and the characters are more diverse and unique, and it brings up themes Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Fracesca don't have.

It's about a girl in highschool (yr11, I think), her father's... Turkish or something, moving from Sydney to the Blue Mountains, and the way people there react to her and her heritage, and the friends she makes and doesn't make.
It just has something to it that LFA and SF don't seem to have.
I think I mispelled the authors name before, it might be Marianne (or something starting with an M, I think) Savvides.

 

[Craig]

Originally posted by glitter burns
It's about a girl in highschool (yr11, I think), her father's... Turkish or something, moving from Sydney to the Blue Mountains, and the way people there react to her and her heritage, and the friends she makes and doesn't make.
It just has something to it that LFA and SF don't seem to have.
I think I mispelled the authors name before, it might be Marianne (or something starting with an M, I think) Savvides.

It sounds interesting. Is it a recent book or has it been out for a while? The storyline sounds particularly interesting. Is it an easy read or is it a difficult one to get through?

 

[blah says she]

I agree with some other comments about the Saving Francesca being similar to Looking for Alibrandi, but I guess if she knows that it works, then she knows she can stick with it and it will be relatively successful. On the whole, I thought it was a really good book.

 

[bubz :D]

i loved looking for alibrandi, but i haven't read saving francesca yet. is it better? yeah i've heard that it's quite similar, but who says that authors can't stick to similar genres?

 

[s2ophie]

Saving Francesca is not better. It is a good light readthat you can just sit down, read and go on with your life. However i could relate with it when Wil trombal said the most crucial thing in the HSC is working out the significance of gthe storm scene in King Lear. I think Marchetta should of alluded to Alibrandi as its in the syllabus lol

and admit it girls, who daydreamed of going to the all boys school??? lol

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by glitter burns
It felt like the Marchetta was playing it safe though, a lot of the book was similar (not identical, I know, but in the same vein) as what was in Looking for Alibrandi. I think maybe for her next book she should try expanding a bit, try something new.

i really liek it but i toally agree with that comment. it was a bit too similar, for the next book i want something different! the only prob is if she is writing from her own experiences she may find it hard to come up with an entirely different story.

 

[grk_styl]

I loved both of her books equally. At one stage I thought Saving Francesca was better, but then I read Looking For Alibrandi again, and decided they were just as good as each other!

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by Craig
Is it an easy read or is it a difficult one to get through?

easy read

 

[Courtenay]

i've read it about 20 times...it makes my highly coveted list of multiple-readable book

I think i like this book better...i plan on finding a "will" hes just such a darn cute character

 

[babydoll_]

Originally posted by s2ophie
and admit it girls, who daydreamed of going to the all boys school??? lol

yeah.... that actually happened with La Salle Catholic College in bankstown (south-west sydney) actually, last year they started enrolling girls for the first time...

 

[Courtenay]

i think it would be hard....i live at a boys boarding school, which has both good and bad aspects...but starting with like 20 girls...

 

[virgin^sexy]

i wasnt all that impressed with Saving Francesca. I read Looking for Alibrandi a few years ago and thought it was okay, better than the movie at least. But when i read SF, I just thought it was exactly the same type of story (i know this has been said) and she didnt really seem such a good writer anymore.

On another note, Melina Marchetta is an English teacher at St Mary's in the city and my friend goes there and he said that she said that she based alot of the boys in the story on boys at the school, so perhaps that means there really is a Wil Trombal out there??

 

[Will_Sparky]

Originally posted by virgin^sexy
i wasnt all that impressed with Saving Francesca. I read Looking for Alibrandi a few years ago and thought it was okay, better than the movie at least.

Better than the movie???! But the movie had Pia Miranda! and it cut alot of crap out!

I LOVED saving francesca!
i thought it was great... and i also love that i got alot more of the references (cause its written write now! i dont know why.. that i loved)... Kick ass book

 

[dark`secrets]

yeh this book was good~ but i still thought looking for alibrandi was better. perhaps it was cos i read that first. My friend read saving Fran. first and loved it compared to looking for alibrandi

 

[Sarah168]

i actually really like "saving franscesca". i borrowed it off a friend who was using it as a related text for the prelim are of study - awakening and i thought it was a really good read. it is a little similar to looking for alibrandi but thats not necessarily a bad thing!