New Year is something that we all look forward to. It marks the beginning of the year and the end of another year. New Year is celebrated all over the world on the first of January. To welcome it, people start cheering on the night of December 31. Like other countries, Georgia also has certain traditions regarding celebrating the New Year.  

        New Year’s traditions in Georgia were established quite a long time ago and have been constantly evolving since then. With us, the New Year was celebrated at different times of the year in different eras. According to the preserved information, since the 9th century, the countdown to the New Year starts from the first month of spring – March. The celebration of the New Year in January began in the 10th century, however, it was finally established in the 14th century. It was during this period that many New Year’s customs and rituals were refined.

         Santa Claus was also common everywhere – a cheerful and bearded old man dressed in a white coat, wrapped in a scarf who distributes gifts to children.

        Now, let me remind you that Georgia is divided into historical-geographical provinces (Kartli, Kakheti, etc.) and each province celebrates the New Year differently.

Kakheti

     In Kakheti, they throw wheat or corn in the house to “Mekvle” and then they sing a New Year’s song. 

 For me, all traditions in Georgia and all over the world are fantastic and I cannot distinguish them from each other.

Author: Ana Tabatadze

This is my favorite book we’ve discussed in Book Club. It teaches us that we shouldn’t give up on our goals and dreams. It also teaches us that we shouldn’t lose hope. For example, the main character in this book works very hard to reach his goal, and in the end, he does. This shows us that if we believe in our dreams, they will eventually come true.

There’s a difference between reading books and watching films. In my opinion, reading is better for a few reasons. Books are more detailed than films and allow us to understand the plot better. They allow our minds to be creative and to visualize the characters and the story ourselves. Here’s an example from my experiences: I’ve read and watched the world famous mystery novel – “Sherlock Holmes’ Adventure.” Even though the film was interesting, I preferred reading the book. It allowed me to visualize Sherlock Holmes, the mysteries and the setting. 

As I mentioned above, there are some differences between books and films.

Books are more detailed and immerse you into the story in a different way. On the other hand, films are more intense and easier to understand because they’re visual, tangible, and compact compared to books.

Reading a book lets us expand our vocabulary and improves our memory and imagination. 

I think we all have heard of “Sherlock Holmes’ Adventure” – a masterpiece by Arthur Conan Doyle. Every detail in it is truly delightful! The plot, the characters, the mysteries, and everything else are exceptional. I think it is the best novel for mystery lovers out there. So, I would like to describe Sherlock Holmes as an example of an adequate main character.

Sherlock Holmes is a very intelligent detective. His motive is to solve crimes and help people with his companion, Watson. Sherlock always finds solutions to many problems, but there are times he isn’t able to solve the crime. When that happens, he starts getting anxious and doubts himself. Even though, he still finds ways to solve mysteries. Sherlock is thoughtful, organized, and mysterious. That’s what makes him a fascinating main character for the readers.

Author: Ketevan Chanturia

Some people think, that it’s better to read books than watching movies. I agree with them, because there are lots of reasons that tell us why books are better than movies. The main reasons are the improvements of mental skills and  understanding. Also, watching movies can harm your health.   

To begin with, reading books can improve the reader’s skills, like vocabulary, imagination, intelligence and many others. These skills are really helpful during public speeches, exams and communication in general. For example, you can use the improved vocabulary for public speeches and in exams. 

Secondly, when you read books, you can understand more easily than with watching movies, because the stories written in books are perfectly written and are easy to understand. Meanwhile, the stories  in movies are not complete and they often miss certain details. Also, movies usually can’t tell you the full story and you’ll be left with some questions. There are many mistakes in movies that can confuse your mind. 

Thirdly, watching movies can harm your mental health, because nowadays people watch movies on the big screen and those big screens emit radiation, which is harmful for your mental health. 

Sometimes, people watch long movies and are exposed to a lot of radiation that can harm their eyes, mind and so on. Watching movies can also harm your physical health, because lots of people watch movies all day and don’t get the exercise that is important for general health. 

Watching movies can be entertaining. It can cure your pessimism and encourage you to solve your problems. Also, you can spend your holiday evenings with your friend ( or girlfriend ☺ ) by watching movies on Netflix. In my opinion, hanging out with your friend while reading the book would be quite boring. 
In conclusion, I strongly believe, that books are better than movies because of my mentioned reasons. I hope people will read books more often  than watching movies. 

Author: Nikoloz Dudauri

In our century, in the gadget-and internet era we are living in, movies are more popular than books.

Books require a lot of time and concentration. Books give detailed information about the story, the characters are introduced perfectly, the content is well structured and we, as readers, are pulled into the river of interest. Books allow you to imagine the setting or events happening in the story. When we read a book we visualize everything, so we can give free reign to our imagination. It allows your mind to be creative.

On the other hand it could be argued that films are better than books. People may say that films have a more social aspect than books. You can go to the cinema with your friends and talk about the film together. You cannot read a book the same way.

Movies make stories easier to understand. The film industry does create more job opportunities. There are many different roles when creating a film such as producer, costume artist, makeup artists, director and script writer.

Considering everything we have discussed above, it is clear that books and movies are both necessary. Both of them have their plus and minus points. My parents always say that books are better than movies and they always give me books and promote reading. They are always happy when they see me reading a book. Honestly I prefer to watch movies. The story shown on the screen makes me more imaginative and happier. I like to watch the visual effects and my beloved actors and actresses on the silver screen.

Author: Timote Mdivane

I want to talk about the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. This book is about the life of Jane Eyre and how she became independent. It was published in 1848 and has been translated into over 50 languages. With this book, you can learn a lot about  Jane’s life. 

Jane teaches us life lessons:

1. Be a ‘brave’ person before being a ‘good’ person:  Jane Eyre was fearless, outspoken, and bold even in her childhood. At the age of 10, when she hears that she is being sent to an orphan school by her cruel aunt, she declares that she’ll never call the woman her aunt’ again. She also speaks out against her to-be-husband when she discovers that he is already married.

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” – Jane Eyre

2.No matter what happens, stick to your principles: being an orphan, Jane never lost the path to righteousness or did anything immoral. In the story, Jane is head over heels in love with Mr. Rochester but leaves him at the aisle when she discovers that he has a wife.

“I am a free human being with an independent will.” – Jane Eyre

3. Marry only for love, nothing else: Jane’s love life too is as complicated as everything else in her life.

She falls in love with Mr. Rochester, her employer, who is also in love with her. Their wedding is

interrupted by the revelation that Rochester has another wife which compels Jane to break off the wedding because of her principles.

4. No matter whether you are rich or poor, an orphan or have a parent. The main thing is that you are kind and you think right. 

Books Or Movies

I don’t know what to say because I love watching movies and reading books, but I have one rule.

 I must first read books and then watch movies. When you read a book you imagine everything and you create your world and it’s more joyful for me. When I watch movies this world is already created. I love watching Jane Eyre movie because it has a lot of beautiful scenes, but I prefer the book. 

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the main character of the story. She is NEVER described as beautiful. She is an orphan who lived with her aunt and cousins. They didn’t like Jane and they did terrible things to her.

Jane is a strong brave and intelligent woman and she knows what she wants. 

Author: Anastasia Butsashvili

This is a story in which the main character is a boy named Oscar. He is a curious boy, but he is scared of many things like public transport and skyscrapers because of his dad’s death on 9/11.I think that this book teaches us to try new things and take risks and that is exactly what Oscar’s grandpa is trying to teach his grandson.

Oscar was scared of bridges and did not want to cross them, so his grandpa continued walking so Oscar could catch up to him and conquer his fear by crossing the bridge. When I read the book, I searched for the film and watched it. After I finished watching, I compared the book and the movie. There were some differences like one character not being in the movie and that is Oscar’s grandma’s sister, Anna.

If somebody asked me if I preferred movies or books, I would choose books, but the choice would be hard, because they are both good and also bad in some ways. For example, you can visualize the characters by watching the movie but the book is going to be more detailed, and that is why I would read the book first and then watch the movie. 

When I read the book “Harry Potter”, I had not watched the movie, so I knew every part in detail, because it had much more dialogue and I could imagine the characters. When I watched the movie I was little disappointed. 

That is because it did not have the same degree of detail as the book had, but I saw the actors so what I imagined the characters to look like changed. During the Book Club lessons we read a lot of books, but the character I liked the most is Oscar’s grandpa from “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”. I like him because he is so interesting and mysterious, he can be disliked and also liked, because sometimes he is a good person and sometimes he is not. For example he left his son and had not seen him since, but when he came back he was changed for the better. That is because he helped Oscar conquer his fears of public transport and crossing bridges. 

As Oscar got to know him better and found out that he was his grandfather, he loved him more and more.

Author: Gigi Merebashvili

Books and movies are both interesting. Sometimes movies have better content. I mean it has better filming and scenes, but this rarely happens. I want to tell you about a book named “Harry Potter”.

When I read this book it was not interesting and I loved the movie. Why do I like the “Harry Potter” movie more than the book? It is because I like the actors that portray the characters in this movie. They were chosen correctly for their roles and they fit their roles perfectly. Also the action was so breathtaking and amazing. How did Harry Potter become popular in my eyes? Let me explain. The movie has amazing effects. It is beautiful and it’s a fantastic genre. That’s why I like it.

Books can tell you how beautiful nature is, but movies can show you. In movies some people can miss the beauty of nature, but in books you have to read it and feel it. I’d like to tell you about Jane Eyre. In this book Jane describes how beautiful Thornfield is, but it is a sad story, because bad things happen. Grace Pool bit Mr. Rochester’s friend Mezon and she tried to burn Mr. Rochester in his bed at night time so no one could hear it. Jane also describes to us how big Thornfield is. She says everyone calls Thornfield a house, but in my opinion it is a castle. 

Books don’t have negative sides, except uninteresting books such as “Soap Operas”.

These are very boring and they do not have any basic meaning, history, or anything smart or memorable. They show us only anger and stupid love stories, lies and negative emotions.

Author: Irakli Robakidze

It was 19 December when Oscar, his mom and Ron decided to decorate their house for New Year. Ron and Oscar went shopping for decorations and a Christmas tree, while mom stayed home to bake the cookies. When Ron and Oskar left it started to rain and they got wet. They came to the store and started looking for decorations.

– Oscar, look for a Christmas tree and I will come soon, said Ron.

-Ok, said Oskar

Meanwhile, Ron went to buy a New Year’s gift for Oscar and Oscar’s mother. He bought Oscar’s mother a beautiful ring. Ron thought a lot about what to buy Oscar and decided to buy a detective book and a big puzzle because Oscar was smart.

-I am back, said Ron.

-Ok, I chose these, said Oscar.

-It’s beautiful. All we have to do is buy the lights and then we’ll go home, said Ron.

They found the lights and went home.

Oscar’s mother welcomed them with cookies and hot chocolate.  They started decorating the house while listening to New Year’s music.  They had a lot of fun and the time passed very quickly. In the end it turned out very beautiful. At night, they decided to watch a New Year’s family movie and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate. It’s December 25th and it’s time to open presents. First Oscar opened a present from Ronnie and his mother and loved it. Then Oscar’s mother gave Ron a gift she had bought for him, and Ron liked it very much. Finally, it was time for Oscar’s mother’s gift. Ron got down on one knee and asked:

-Will you marry me?

Oscar’s mother was so happy and said yes because she loved Ron. Oscar was happy but deep in his heart, he was sad because he realized that his father was slowly being forgotten. Oscar and his mother did not expect this, but miracles can happen in the New Year.

Author: Anastasia Samushia

Fight Club is a book which was written in 1997. This book is very interesting and has an ending nobody would expect. I think from this book you can understand that you must care about your mental health and about your life in general. This book is about an insomniac known as ‘’The Narrator’’ and his alter ego Tyler Durden. To understand this book/movie you must be mature. I can tell this from my personal experience.

I think movies are better than books and I want to tell you my arguments. First of all, the presentation of the story is much better. Let us return to Fight Club. The ending of the book was pretty sad, but the ending of the movie almost made me cry because the presentation was fantastic and the song was the one which suited it the most. I can say the same about The Great Gatsby. In the movie you truly understand how rich Gatsby is.  I have to say something about the movie Scarface.  Al Pacino made the “Say hello to my little friend” line and scene one of the best and most well known in cinematography.

Pride and Prejudice is both a book and a movie. To be honest I prefer the book as it made more sense to me. But if we talk about Harry Potter I prefer the movies.

Oscar from “Extremely loud and Incredibly Close” is a boy who will always achieve the goals he wants to achieve. He is a kind boy, but there are many things I want to change about him and his life. The main thing is that I want him to be happier and be less suicidal during the main storyline of the book.

My goals for this year include losing weight and decorating my room.

Author: Irakli Khurtsilava

      New Year is the biggest holiday of the year, and is eagerly awaited by all people around the world. “New Year” means that new, bright and successful things should happen in your life, which will take you to a new stage or a higher level and bring you happiness. It is a holiday that is celebrated by everyone, big or small, old or young, with great joy and hope.

       THE LITERARY HERO OSCAR SCHELL FROM THE BOOK “EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE” BY JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER ALSO MET THE NEW YEAR WITH GREAT JOY AND EXPECTATION. THERE IS A MOVIE BASED ON THIS BOOK, WHICH IS INTERESTING, BUT WHEN I READ THE BOOK, IT EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS. IT INCLUDES MANY INTERESTING DETAILS THAT WERE NOT IN THE MOVIE. ALTHOUGH THE ACTORS ACT WELL AND THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS GOOD, IN GENERAL, I BELIEVE THAT THE BOOK IS AN INCOMPARABLE WORK OF WISDOM AND WORDS AND IT CAN NEVER BE COMPARED TO ANYTHING ELSE. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND THERE ARE COMPUTERS AND MOVIES, THEY CAN NEVER BEAT THE BOOK AND THE BOOK WILL ALWAYS BE A SOURCE OF ETERNAL KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM.

       FOR OSCAR, THE CURRENT YEAR WAS FULL OF GREAT TRIALS AND EMOTIONS. A GREAT TRAGEDY HAPPENED IN THIS LITTLE BOY’S LIFE. HE LOST THE PERSON HE LOVED THE MOST, HIS FATHER, AND HE DID NOT DIE A NATURAL DEATH. THIS HAPPENED DURING A GREATEST TRAGEDY IN THE WORLD, THE EXPLOSION OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. THIS TRAGEDY CHANGED THE LIVES OF MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING LITTLE OSCAR, WHO BECAME INTERESTED IN INVESTIGATING THE DETAILS OF HIS FATHER’S LIFE AFTER HIS DEATH. THIS INVESTIGATION CHANGED HIM. HE LOOKED AT LIFE WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EYES AND A SENSE OF GREAT KINDNESS WAS AWAKENED IN HIM. HE HELPS EVERYONE HE MEETS. HIS FEELINGS TOWARDS HIS MOTHER ALSO CHANGED AND SHE BECAME THE MOST BELOVED PERSON FOR HIM. HE ALSO MET AND GOT TO KNOW HIS GRANDFATHER.

         IT IS DECEMBER 31ST. OSKAR IS DECORATING THE CHRISTMAS TREE. HIS MOTHER IS IN THE KITCHEN. THIS WAS THE PREPARATION EVERY YEAR, BUT OSCAR WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT. OSKAR CONFIDED HIS INTENTION TO HIS MOTHER. HIS MOTHER LIKED IT AND AGREED. OSCAR MADE HIS OWN INVITATION CARDS AND SENT THEM TO RON, AARON BLACK, MR. BLACK, AGNES BLACK, RUTH BLACK AND WILLIAM BLACK. HIS MOTHER ASKED HIS GRANDMOTHER ANNA TO HELP HER PREPARE THE FOOD. SHE ALSO HAPPILY AGREED. OSKAR ALSO BROUGHT HIS GRANDFATHER. THEY SET THE TABLE AND OSKAR PLACED COLORED PAPERS ON THE PLATES. WHEN THE CLOCK STRUCK 12, OSCAR ASKED EVERYONE TO WRITE THEIR WISHES ON THESE PAPERS, THEN BURN THEM AND THROW THE ASHES OUTSIDE. OSCAR BELIEVED THAT THEIR WISHES WOULD COME TRUE. OF COURSE, THIS MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE, BUT WITH SOME FAITH IT MAY COME TRUE.

       THERE ARE MANY SUCH TRADITIONS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, INCLUDING GEORGIA, BUT THE COMMON THING IS THAT EVERYONE CONGRATULATES EACH OTHER ON THE NEW YEAR AND THEY BELIEVE THAT ON THIS DAY ALL THEIR WISHES WILL COME TRUE.
      I ALSO WANT TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON THE COMING YEAR, WISHING YOU ENDLESS JOY, HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT OF ALL YOUR WISHES!

Author: Mariam Kokhreidze