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Jimmy's Hall, by Ken Loach |
Audiobook
SUMMARY
The Clover Leaf Social Club (CLSC) organized balls in the Give and Take Athletic Association (G&TAA) rooms. The G&TAA was a sports club, all its members were males and in its premises there were the rooms you usually could find in a gym. In general, only members of these two clubs attended these balls.
Maggie Toole, our star, used to go to the ball with a couple of friends, Anna and her boyfriend Jimmy, because she was a plain girl, and no one had ever asked to take her to the ball.
But Maggie didn’t like this situation, and one Saturday she told her friend it won’t be necessary their company to go to the ball because somebody was escorting her there. Anna was very happy for Maggie because that was something good for her, and she was curious to know who was her partner and what was he like; but Maggie would rather keep it secret until they meet him at the ball.
When Maggie and her escort got to the assembly rooms, everybody was astonished, because the man was really handsome, stylish, tall and attractive. Every girl admired him. But boys showed here some jealousy, and, moreover, they begin to notice that Maggie wasn’t so plain as they had thought until now.
However, the G&TAA boys and its leader Dempsey got suspicious of Maggie’s partner. The question was that she introduced him as Terry O’Sullivan, and when Dempsey asked Big Mike O’Sullivan, another well-known member of the G&TAA, if he knew Terry and he answered he didn’t, the mistrust was total, because they said all the O’Sullivans knew each other in that city. Dempsey then insulted Terry, and a formal challenge ensued.
But the G&TAA had very strict rules, and one of these rules was that when somebody had to settle their differences they had to go to a back room where they would combat, but using only the weapons the nature had given them.
No woman ever had seen that back room because that kind of show wasn’t appropriate for the fair sex, although they knew what happened there.
Maggie noticed her partner had disappeared, and somebody told her the boys had taken him to the back room to settle their differences with Dempsey. Maggie got extremely alarmed and darted to the back room, and although everybody tried to block her passage, she got there at last. And there…
The Clover Leaf Social Club (CLSC) organized balls in the Give and Take Athletic Association (G&TAA) rooms. The G&TAA was a sports club, all its members were males and in its premises there were the rooms you usually could find in a gym. In general, only members of these two clubs attended these balls.
Maggie Toole, our star, used to go to the ball with a couple of friends, Anna and her boyfriend Jimmy, because she was a plain girl, and no one had ever asked to take her to the ball.
But Maggie didn’t like this situation, and one Saturday she told her friend it won’t be necessary their company to go to the ball because somebody was escorting her there. Anna was very happy for Maggie because that was something good for her, and she was curious to know who was her partner and what was he like; but Maggie would rather keep it secret until they meet him at the ball.
When Maggie and her escort got to the assembly rooms, everybody was astonished, because the man was really handsome, stylish, tall and attractive. Every girl admired him. But boys showed here some jealousy, and, moreover, they begin to notice that Maggie wasn’t so plain as they had thought until now.
However, the G&TAA boys and its leader Dempsey got suspicious of Maggie’s partner. The question was that she introduced him as Terry O’Sullivan, and when Dempsey asked Big Mike O’Sullivan, another well-known member of the G&TAA, if he knew Terry and he answered he didn’t, the mistrust was total, because they said all the O’Sullivans knew each other in that city. Dempsey then insulted Terry, and a formal challenge ensued.
But the G&TAA had very strict rules, and one of these rules was that when somebody had to settle their differences they had to go to a back room where they would combat, but using only the weapons the nature had given them.
No woman ever had seen that back room because that kind of show wasn’t appropriate for the fair sex, although they knew what happened there.
Maggie noticed her partner had disappeared, and somebody told her the boys had taken him to the back room to settle their differences with Dempsey. Maggie got extremely alarmed and darted to the back room, and although everybody tried to block her passage, she got there at last. And there…
QUESTIONS
-Who was Beau Brumell? In you opinion, is it a good idea for a club / institution to have a Master of Cerimonies?
-Do you think we can understand somebody’s character according the way he or she dances?
-How prejudices shape our tastes and ideas?
-Who is more to blame, the pretender, or we, that are blind by our prejudices / first impressions?
-A classical way to settle differences is a duel. Can you tell us about famous duels? What do you think it's the best way to settle diferrences?
VOCABULARY
hop, comely, beseeched, sandpaper, pinned, prowess, bow legs, fob, dumbbells, terpsichorean, sneer, buds, stiletto,