My Bookish 2021

As I usually celebrate my New Year in autumn, I don´t count too much on the ´normal´ end or beginning of the year. However, symbolically at least, the end of the 12 months are important for many organisatorical, legal and economic reasons therefore, although I tried to ignore al the fuss around it, I cannot ignore any more its milestone meaning.

After all, it is not so bad to have more than one New Year, as you have the chance more than once to start anew, but also to look back with less anger. Soon, there will be another year´s end and you still have the chance to make things better.

My bookish 2021 was a fantastic year. Probably the best year as a book blogger, with many posts, new authors every couple of days, representing a wide array of countries and topics. Although my focus - my lifetime mission - was more on reading German books by German-speaking authors (for the first time, I had the chance to cover a lot of titles from the short and long list of Deutscher Buchpreis 2021 and I still have some interesting authors to feature until the next edition of Germany´s most prestigious literary competition), I offered more space for French authors, read in the original language. 

My library bag was heavier and heavier, and the list of ARCs acquired via various editions of NetGalley, Edelweiss oder directly from authors and edition houses is very long.  

Another achievement was to read more poetry and fill my time with many interesting audiobooks. 12 months ago I was less inclided to give a chance to this book format, but I started slowly with nonfiction books and was able to focus my attention to cover complex novels. 

Part of my blogging time was dedicated to taking part of awesome blog tours, organised by the talented queen of books Anne Cater and also by the very brave Corylus Books. It was such a honor and priviledge to be considered for taking part to those tours that brought me often out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes and my soul to new topics and authors.

Although travel was nonexistent in my life - and I was one of those free people that used to be out of their city at least two times the month - and therefore, participation in person to literary events was impossible, Zoom and the power of social media brought me close to authors, topics, literary critics and books that I am interested in. 

With so much time spent at home, or around the home, watching movies filled those long dry hours when I was longing to see other worlds. I went at least once round the world through a very eclectic collection of movies, featuring less known film directors and their movies. As books, films are equally eyes opening and help at a great extent to understand not only individual humans, but their cultural and historical context as well. 

When I don´t read, read about reading or watch movies, I learn languages. For very strict professional reasons, German took most of my time this year and I am relatively satisfied with the results but with some exciting literary translation projects in sight, I tried to spent time with my beloved French as well. Spanish was lucky to get a bit of more attention than usual, and once in a while I tried to pay attention to some Portuguese grammar here, some funny Italian- or Hebrew-spoken movies there, some Arabic poetry once in a while (bad news, one of my favorite Iraqi poet Lamia Abbas died unfortunately this year). 

What´s Next?

I wish I can keep the same pace of intensive and immersive reading for the next 12 months. There are a couple of book tours landing to my page in January and February, and hopefully many more in the making. I have some extraordinary books coming out soon, that I can´t wait to review soon, among which Shahriar Mandanipour and many authors from the Middle East, Carribean and less known literary realms. 

In terms of movies, I want to be even more curious to explore particularly those areas that rarely make it the news. Discovering new, less popular, film directors is also one of my priorities, and hopefully I can share more and more fantastic finds soon.

I promise to keep my ratio of German authors read in original, but I have some important - for me - French project, which is to re-read A la recherche du temps perdu by Proust, a book that has for me a very familiar scent of a lost time. I rarely revisit old books, but this one is relevant for me for more than one reason and I can´t wait to observe where this experience will lead me to. 

On my TBR, there are a couple of classical reads that for various reasons I haven´t read until now, and hopefully I will find the right mood to go through them. I gave myself around 24 months for this project, that includes some Shakespeare´s plays or Ulysses by James Joyce.

I am ready for more poetry and I want to use my time even better the next year. I don´t have necessarily a list, but I do have some books and authors that I hope to add to my bibliography soon. Some works of critical literature and reading more reviews will probably help me hone my own reviewer skills as well.

After being fully vaccinated, me and those I love to have in my life, I hope to be back on the road again, and thus, have a more diverse bookish experience soon, including my taking part to book festivals and other person-to-person events. However, I do count on Zoom meetings as well as a very smart way to connect from anywhere, anytime. This is a habit I will be happy to maintain further in my life.

Although I wish to be more strict with my language diet - Monday: German, Tuesday: Portuguese, Wednesday: Spanish etc. - I know myself too well for being sure that it will be rather chaotic: For example: Monday: One page in Portuguese, and some German writing, and maybe some little Spanish conversation with my friends...I plan to improve significantly a language that I randomly started to learn this year - more details one day, and maybe start anew a language different from all the languages I´ve learn before - Asian language, the easiest one. I would be keen to learn about various Spanish dialects - spoken in Spanish-countries around the world, or to be able to spent more time conversing in Ladino or doing some translations from Yiddish - I´ve produly read the Communist Manifesto in an Yiddish translation recently, don´t blame me. Time is a high commodity and my time is very limited, split between my personal life, my busy work, my books and my loved ones. 

On purpose, I haven´t add anything about writing. Except professional emails in German and book reviews, my writing was almost non-existent and I am not worried about it. With so many changes on all plans, words need a break until figuring out the new realities. I haven´t professionally published in a very very long time, either books or articles or anything at all. I am ready to be back in the writing loop, but not sure how and when. The experience of the last two years is to give myself time and space and all good things will come at the right moment.

As for now, I am happy to be alive, and healthy and surrounded by the best people in my life.

Cheers to a better and kinder 2022!

My December Movie Selection

One day before the end of 2021, and I am ready to share my latest movie selection of the year. In the last 12 months, I had the chance to explore many new films, different genres, topics and perspectives. I tried to go as often as possible outside my comfort zone and learned to read movies from different angles.

As for now, here is my latest eclectic selection of movies.

Fireworks Wednesday directed by Asghar Farhadi

The eve of the Wednesday before the Nowruz, the Persian New Year (Chaharshanbe Suri), is a day of celebration with fireworks and outdoor parties. The houses are clean and all looks like new. The young family features in Fireworks Wednesday by the fine observer of relationships and family secrets, Asghar Farhadi whose films I frequently featured this year on my blog, is going through a sad drama of betrayal, observed through the naive eyes of a bride-to-be.

Women actresses are very good in outlining not only their underpriviledged position and fragile status, but equally their complex situation of always being under observation and scrutiny, including by the other women.

One 2 One directed by Mania Akbari

Mania Akbari has a more direct personal take on the situation of women in Iran that in the end pushed her into exile in London. One.Two.One (Yek.Do.Yek) questions what happens to a women when her much praised beauty is taken away by the will of a man. The dialogues between women and the multi-media language in general are different of the classical interpretations of the Iranian cinema breaking with taboos and chosing the less diplomatic way to tell it.

Yalda directed by Massoud Bakhshi

This was my first encounter with the Iranian film director Massoud Bakhshi, but I´ve encountered some fo the actresses from Yalda in other films. Yalda is the celebration of the winter solstice, when families come together and share red-foods - watermelon, pomegranate etc. In the movie, inspired by a local reality show, on this occasion, a woman condemned to death because presumably she killed her very old husband, is pledging again her cause in the front of the daughter of her husband. Poor girl, she is the victim of her mother´s web of lies and the lucrative interests of her husband´s family, but at least she will convince the public that she deserves to live, and the public pressure will push the daughter to forgive her publicly, although with a price.

Another sad story of how cheap women´s lives can be.

A Prophet directed by Jacques Audiard

A Prophet directed by Jacques Audiard is very out of my intellectual comfort zone. Featuring the excellent actor Tahar Rahim it follows the transformation during the prison years of a 19 years old from a slave of the powerful Corsican mafia to a dangerous power breaker. It is a very violent movie but nevertheless offers a very interesting survival game. I had sometimes the feeling that Rahim does not always matches the expectations of a 19yo, but his game is well played anyway.

L´invention de la cuisine - Pierre Gagnaire

The French series L´invention de la cuisine do introduce gourmet chefs through their food creations. It is more than food, it is more than art: it is a dramatic (re)invention of the art of eating. My first installment was dedicated to Pierre Gagnaire and besides making me long for Paris more than I usually do it, it reveals a new perception of food as a cultural act. I would probably continue in the next weeks with the following stories.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn directed by Radu Jude

I follow closely the works by Radu Jude and I was never disappointed by his courageous take on the definitive moral weakness of the post-communist self-righteousness. Awarded with this year´s Berlinale Golden Bear, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (I know, the title sounds horribly kitsch) is shot during the Corona lockdown. When a private video of a teacher become public on a porn site, the parents and other teachers are outraged. How dare she...to have sex? The everyday grotesque haven´t changed in a long while and the everyeday language is very strong - I´ve followed it in original Romanian with German subtitles and thanks Goethe, many many ´local expressions´ cannot be translated. But the right of a woman of being intimate with her husband is not so matter of factly, comrades...

Jackie directed by Pablo Larrain

Natalie Portman is the last person I would imagine playing Jackie Kennedy, but in Jackie directed by Pablo Larrain she looks like the perfect candidate. The film covers her last days as Mrs. President, following the JFK´s assasination. Although I´ve felt like Jackie was represented like a kind of ´Lady Di´, being forced to play a role she never wanted to - ´I never wanted fame, I just became a Kennedy´, the movie is an unique take on a very special historical and political episode from America´s recent history.

Priceless/Hors Prix directed by Pierre Salvadori

Not all my movies are serious reflections of life and politics. Some or just comedies. Like, for instance, Priceless/Hors de Prix directed by French director Pierre Salvadori. Audrey Tatou plays the role of a seductress of old men, at work at the French Riviera, meeting an attractive yet poor waiter played by Gad Elmaleh. Will love win? Is worth watching for finding the answer, as the movie is very entertaining.

Kiss Me Kosher directed by Shirel Peleg

Let´s further play the love score. This time, in Israel, where a German lady is about to start her life together with her Israeli love, but recent history may or may not break them. Kiss Me Kosher by Shirel Peleg has a hysterical humour, particularly if you have that sense of humour that you don´t get it for sure from living in Germany. Another love story that one may want to follow until the very romantic end.

Dr. Ketel. Der Schatten von Neukölln directed by Anna&Linus de Paoli

 

An horror science fiction based in the Neukölln borough of Berlin: the health insurance system failed, people are breaking into pharmacies to steal medicine. A black-and-white story of a doctor who is not a doctor but nevertheless is trying to save people. I rarely watch science fiction and this one would be my last for a long time as it was a huge waste of time for a grotesque film.

Fargo directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Based on a true story that happened in Minnesota in 1987, Fargo - situated in North Dakota - is a black mystery with a smart dosis of irony. The perfect background to meditate about greed, lifechoices and why a smart pregnant woman who solved the mystery does not get any praise.

That´s all for now. Stay tunned for another special selection of movies in one month!

Douce France

´Pourquoi les Français ne nous aiment-ils pas?´

Everyone has two countries, his own and France, they say. I believe it, although sometimes I dreamed that I only have one country. France, obviously. I idealized France and sometimes I still do. France was my safe space where the Republic of Letters governs and where the public intellectual was born. 

Karine Tuil, originary from a North African Jewish family, went beyond the stereotypes about France shared by people like me, not actually living in France but insisting to idealize it. Douce France is an account of an unnamed woman, a writer, who accepts to be arrested during a police raid among the illegal immigrants. 

She declare herself being Romanian, the name of the woman who took care of her late grandmother. Thus, she is spending a couple of days in an immigration center and as her father is late to rescue, she is deported to - and later brought by her family from - Romania. The weakness of the story is that she was not revealed as a fake while being taken to the Romanian consulate as she was not able to say any word in Romanian and her French was native level. But this is a technicality which does not change too much the story.

While in detention, she falls for a man, Yuri, allegedly a political refugee from Belarus, but who was in fact either a Moldavian illegal migrant or a Romanian with the same status. A couple of weeks after being freed from the volutary internment, she will find him, only from afar, in the middle of another deportation procedure at the local court. 

The book was written during a very vocal anti-migrant time in France, where news about deportation of illegal citizens - particularly from Eastern Europe - were on the front page of media and the most frequent topic of political/populist debates. As the daughter of Jewish immigrants, Tuil is often reminded of the obligation of not forgetting that we were also once slaves in Egypt. Helping the stranger by giving him a home, offering support to those on the run, to the oppressed, is hard to be done on your own.

France can be sweet like honey, but bitter like bile. Explaining this paradox is the antidote for naives like me, who chose to stay away from it, afraid of breaking the myth into small little toxic pieces. 

Rating: 3 stars

Small Adventures in Sprachland

Süddeutsche Zeitung journalist Axel Hacke is having a take - sometimes serious, sometimes ironic, sometimes a bit too elitistic - to the way in which words are (mis)used, in everyday translations and mistaken linguistics. Im Bann des Eichelhechts und andere Gechichten aus Sprachland is partially based on letters received from his readers or by his own observations when abroad or just about to place an order at a restaurant´s. 

Some mistakes are hilarious, while in some cases - particularly when it has to do with (mis)pronunciation - there is a certain touch of arrogance in disqualifying someone as a person entitled to speak a language only based on placing the wrong accent. Definitely, acquiring the right accent is part of learning a language, but the grammar and the understanding of the proper meaning is in my opinion more important.

The sources of inspiration for Hacke´s short installments are restaurant menus or simple name shields. Sometimes, the comma is in the wrong place, sometimes is missing hence the hilarious effect. Overall, there is a lot to learn, particularly when struggling hard to become a better German writer or/and speaker.

Good to add at the bibliography - the audiobook format I had access to is lively and entertaining - but keep your critical thinking awake...books about language and words cannot be fully innocent.

Rating: 3 stars

 

My Latest Selection of Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are one of my favorite genres because they can convene such a diverse range of topics and information in a very concise and visual way. For the end of the year, I make a round up of my latest reads and recommendations.

They called Us Enemy by George Takei

The famous Star Wars actor George Takei offers an unique testimony of the situation of the Japanese living in the US during WWII. The Executive Order nr. 9066 from February 19th, 1942 considered them enemies, their properties seized and they were forced to live in precarious conditions. Deemed ´nonassimilable´, the principle of the order was that: ´You don´t know what they´re thinking, so it would be prudent to look them up before they do anything´. Takei, at the time a child, experienced it alongside other 120,000 Asian Americans. President Ronald Reagen apologized for it only 40 years ago.

The illustrations - the work of Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and Harmony Becker - are suggestive and the text is written in the voice of a young child experiencing the hardship of uprootnesness and the sudden destitute situation of his family.

A recommended read for those interested in history, particularly of Asians in the US.

Liebe auf Iranisch by Jane Deuxard

Iranian Love Stories by Jane Deuxard, illustrated by Zac Deloupy is a collection of stories of love and hate (by the government and its corrupt representatives) told by women and men living in Iran. It may have some stereotypical interpretations but it also offers insights of the everyday life challenges the young people are forced to experience.

Identikid by Moa Romanova

Identikid by Swedish author and artist Moa Romanova, translated into German by Katharina Erben is my least favorite comic novel of the year, maybe of the last 5 years. Although I understood the message, the kind of grotesque the book is sinking into does not make too much sense for me. It´s a matter of taste, I know, which I fully assume it. 

The Colour of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

The first installment of the Colour trilogy, The Color of Earth by the revered Korean comic artist Kim Dong Hwa is a timeless story of learning to love again. I loved the illustrations but also the cultural and linguistic references, offering a full immersion into the local ambiance.

Yallah Bye by Joseph Safieddine, illustrated by Kyungeon Park

Inspired by real facts that took place in 2006, this graphic novel recreate the everyday life of people affected by the political games of military movements, that do not have anything to do with the local population. The texts, written by Joseph Safieddine, Lebanese himself, and illustrated by the South Korean artist Kyungeon Park, may offer sometimes exactly what people expect to read and hear from Lebanon, and does miss some important pieces of the puzzle, but are nevertheless relevant for the representations of the recent Lebanese history.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Piano Oriental by Zeina Abirached

Not living Lebanon yet, as Piano Oriental by Zeina Abirached tells a more interesting story rendered in an excellent graphic format. Inspired by a personal history, it reflects the diversity and complexity of the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, through sounds and colours. A Lebanon that nowadays is mostly lost, thus the importance of sharing such testimonies that maybe one day will help to build a new cultural awareness again.

Yasmina et les Mangeurs de Patates/Yasmina and the Potato Eaters by Wauter Mannaert

This book that I´ve read in French, by Belgian cartoonist Wauten Mannaert, belongs rather to the domain of food history. Yasmina, a brave girl who wants to save the world is involved in a conspiracy whose stake is to feed the planet. It sounds more for a middle grade audience but in fact it makes a couple of smart points relevant for the food history, wrapped in an adventurous story.

The World of Mana Neyestani

Mana Neyestani is a talented Iranian cartoonist that had to leave the country after a kafkaesque encounter between arts and politics. 

An Iranian Nightmare/Ein iranischer Albtraum is inspired by this experience that changed completely his life, only due to an interpretation of some paranoid bureaucrats. Dictatorships of all colours may offer a lot of inspiration for absurd works, but brings so much pain to the soul and body of individuals.

His latest work that I had the chance to read as a graphic novel is built around a serial morder who operated in the city of Mashhad, considered one of the most religious cities in the world, who killed 16 sex workers. When does someone has the right to kill another person? Or, in other words, is there any such right, or is just an invention for the sake of the religiously intoxicated?

Quai d´Orsay by Christophe Blain and Abel Lanzac

Quai d´Orsay by the duo Christophe Blain and Abel Lanzac is an example that graphic novels can be made about every single topic in the world. Named after the address of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was turned into a movie. Lanzac himself is a diplomat, familiar with the ways in which foreign policy is built, hence the authenticity of both the vocabulary and the mechanisms that put into motion a diplomatic office, no matter the country. It displays the conflicts that usually exist between political appointees and diplomatic personnel and what happens when diplomats are at war - in the book, the last Iraq War.

That´s my latest 2021 post dedicated to graphic novels. I don´t have any interesting titles yes on my TBR but hopefully will have many opportunities to discover new voices and cartoonists, that will be happy to further share with my readers. I can´t wait!

Short Stories from Romania

 

I´ve heard about Lavinia Braniște a couple of times before reading this very short collection of (2) stories in German translation, Planet Romeo. However, I did not know what exactly to expect from the book, but I not even tried to read out any reviews before loaning it from my online public library. Sometimes I prefer to let myself surprised by my literary (largely random) choices.

My experience with many young writers from Romania - I will not say names, because I am not ready for a sum up - is that the gratuitous aggressivity, particularly of the language. I am not a purist, but I think that there are so many ways to express yourself and cursing is the least smart. Far from me though to conclude that this is a character treat, but I am always on alert.

Planet Romeo includes two very short stories translated into German by Anke Pfeifer and Ernst Wichner, both with recognized credentials as translators from Romanian. There are two short stories, set in the capital city of Bucharest, set around young people longing for intimacy but instead getting hooked on fast sex. The language is acceptable and there are many ambiental descriptions which recreate lively snapshots with a particular history. The stories do have their own dynamic and intrinsic coherence, but as for now, it is too early to evaluate the author´s work. The characters mostly define themselves through their misplaced desires and longings, but other than that it is relatively difficult to get into their psychology and personal history. Call it the limitations of the short story format.

Braniște lives currently in Bucharest and is a translator, mostly of children books. Her novels were multi-awarded in Romania and translated into German as well. My next on my TBR, hopefully until the end of the year is Null Komma Irgendwas - Interior Zero, translated by Manuela Klenke. 

Rating: 3 stars

Book Review: Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah

 

I´ve initially read Bride of the Sea by Saudi-American researcher and nonfiction writer Eman Quotah in preparation for an incoming Zoom-bookclub in January next year. As I am very interested in reading books on topics inspired by or set in the Middle East, I couldn´t wait any longer and finished the book within 3 days. I didn´t know exactly what to expect but I wished from the bottom of my heart that the book has a mature take on relationships and the Middle East in general. At a great extent, I was rewarded intellectually.

There are a couple of ambitious takes of the book: the timeline covers around 50 years - very rich in events, particularly in terms of US-Middle East/Saudi Arabia interactions such as Iraq´s invasion of Kuwait, the take of modernity in the Saudi Kingdom, the 11/9 terrorist attacks -, from the 1970s until 2018. Thus, it covers  It has an impressive cast of characters, all wisely organised around the main characters of the book. It switches from one POV to another in a very skillfull way adding important elements and perspective to the story. However, the timeline switch from one period to another is sometimes confusing and it may disconnect the reader from the narrative. 

Another aspect that I appreciated in the book is the very matter-of-factly cultural approach on Saudi society, which avoid the dramatic perspective on simply exploring facts as a backdrop for creating a story.

Bride of the Sea starts with the story of a mismatch: First cousins Muneer and Saeedah are temporarily relocated to the US. Muneer plans to divorce her and expects her to bring soon their daughter Hanadi back to Saudi where he is working as a journalist. Suddenly though, she will disappear with the girl and it would take many years until Muneer will meet again their daughter, which was initially told that her father died. She grieved for a death father which was not death, and the mother´s decision definitely influenced not only her life - a life on the run she will only later understand its reason - but will affect her level of trust in people in general.

Although Saeedah is present throughout the story only by her name or through her decisions and their reflection, she is the least represented character in the book. She is not allowed to intervene or even to defend herself. This is an important shortcoming of the story in my opinion.  

Despite the fact of being propelled by a serious cultural context - the right of the father of being exclusively in charge of the children following the divorce - it avoids playing the card of prejudice because in fact the issue is more complex and there is much more to explore. 

What I also appreciated by this book is the unique way in which characters related to each other through dialogues. Their relationships are shaped by the dialogue between them and in my opinion, this is an unique way to create insightful stories while developping the main story. 

Bride of the Sea adds to the recent literary history of the Middle East an unique Saudi-American voice exploring through a particular geographic and cultural setting, general human interpretations and meanings. Now, I can only wait until my bookclub reunion in a couple of weeks to share my opinions about the book while curious about other participants interpretations.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Book Review: Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng

Swimming Back to Trout River by Canada-based Linda Rui Feng is a questioning about how parents´ choices may influence children´s fate, particularly when it comes to relocating in a different culture and language.

The debut novel is written in the third person and manages an impressive cast of characters, covering at least one generation timeline, from the time of the Mao´s cultural revolution until the nowadays San Francisco. Surprinsingly, despite the long historical and personal accounts, the story is very concise, covering less than 300 pages, made of small plots which lately may join the main story of three main characters: Cassia, Momo and their daughter Junie, born without lower legs and feet. As Cassia and Momo are leaving China, one after the other, for the USA, Junie is left with her ailing grandparents, and stubbornly opposes the idea of joining her parents. If they will finally win, warns she, she will swim back to Trout River, the small village where her grandparents live. 

The story is densely built, both in terms of the autonomous action as for covering a multitude of politically internal and external encounters - from the oppression of the Cultural Revolution to the Chinese-Russian rift. 

The decision of leaving the country, splitting families and destiny is explored from a very novel point of view, from the perspective of the consequences into the lives of those who are unable to decide their future. And there are those political decisions taken which traumatized generations after generations. The individual is insignificant in a world on the move and in the making, a perspective which is very much familiar to the Eastern philosophy. Like the way in which Junie was born. Or the victims of the horrible Cultural Revolution - a phenomenon not enough explored literarily in my opinion. 

What I particularly loved in Swimming Back to Trout River were the musical references present not only as the love for playing an instrument or for a score, but as a seamless connection between the performer, the instrument and, last but not least, the score. It also transcedes questions about the political identity of a musician - entangled into the oppression of the Cultural Revolution who intensively fought against professional musicians whose instruments were destroyed, among others, but also assumed during the musician´s presence outside his or her homecountry realm. Again, we have to deal with the individual caught into the nets of history. 

Swimming Back to Trout River is on my top list of the debut novels I´ve read this year. It is not only beautifully written and built, but it also raises questions about identity and humans facing decisions and the blindness of history. 

Rating: 5 stars

Book Review: Comrade Koba by Robert Littell

 

I am nostalgic about the times when I used to devour books set in former Soviet Union or during the Cold War. Nostalgic for those times, long ago, when I was so in love with the literary re-telling of the times, although I deeply hated everything about that actually took place in real time. The literary references sounded familiar to me, while I despised - and still do - every single reminder of those unfair chain of events. Particularly, everything in relation to the Soviet incarceration system and the political prisoners was interesting to explore in the literary realms, but when reading or hearing stories about how things actually happened, I was disgusted about how low humans can go. Soon after, my literary interests switched to other horrors - wars in the former Yugoslavia, South American dictatorships, religious dictorships. The literary renditions were opening up new doors into the same human lowliness, although kindness and integrity were sparkling the light of hope. 

My last books with Soviet topics that I loved were A Gentleman in Moscow and The Patriots, but this happened four years ago. This weekend, I offered myself the pleasure of a different kind of book, also shorter, taking place during the same troubled times: Comrade Koba by Robert Littell. This is Littell´s 20th book, set during the Cold War, but for me, it was the first encounter with this author, an American writer based in France.

Set during the last weeks and months from the life of Stalin - nom de guerre, Koba - it is written as an account about ´the old man with a iodine breath´ as told by a little boy, Leon Rozental. His father, a nuclear physicist, died of radiation poisoning. His mother, a heart doctor at Kremlin hospital, was shortly after sent to prison following the antisemitic Doctor´s Plot. Leon´s family is Jewish. The boy is left alone in the House of Embankment, together with other children whose parents ´disappeared´, either murdered or sent to Siberia. Although the apartments are sealed by the NKVD, the children, particularly Leon, do find a way to survive. Mostly, by meeting Koba to whose residence he reached by wandering through various secret underground tunnels. 

Leon assumes he is meeting someone who is helping Stalin to rule the world. He wants to be his ´hypothetical authorized biographer´ and he keps a kind of diary with questions and short impressions about the encounters. 

The whole story is told through the eyes of the children, Leon and his older girlfriend, Isabeau. Isabeau relates second hand accounts about the story. At times, she may think he lost his marbles and no one has any idea about who this old man may be, including Leon. It may be the same with a reader that has no idea about whose nom de guerre Koba was and in general, details about Stalin and his Soviet Union. 

Stalin does not appear as a hero or as a criminal, just a human, an ´old man with a iodine breath´ which is alone. Leon is able to break ´through the wall of his loneliness´.

The idea of telling the story exclusively through children´s voices is a different literary choice. It does not necessarily bring ´innocence´ into the story, but layers of humour and a kind of curiosity that is genuinely human but deterred by various educational reasons. I am not sure that direct curiosity equals innocence. Actually, I don´t think at all. Nevertheless, the kids, a ´Home alone, the Soviet variant´, are brave enough to kill an NKVD-ist keen to get some money from the children, partly made up of the money given by ´Koba´ to Leon, partly from a Modigliani Leon sold for 300 rubles to a trustworthy family connection. The children don´t doubt the communist values and the Soviet Union. They even accept to change Monopoly to Yloponom, the same word but spelled backwards, to make it sound more ´communistical´.

The story is told in the pace of a classical story, which enfolds at a controlled rhythm by the author. This was not my favorite part about the story. I also would have love more interactions between the characters as the book it is not supposed to be a book for children, although it features children.

Reading Comrade Koba was a reminder about how much I am still interesting in enjoying this historical and geographical area, and therefore will be curious to read latest works on this topic. A book that one does not enjoy may open new opportunities and literary ideas though so in a way I am glad that I´ve spent some weekend time with this one.

Rating: 3 stars

 

Book Review: The Push by Ashley Audrain

´I was embarassed that we´d created a human being who would act this way´. 

As a young, inexperienced, motherloss mother, I´ve spent an unknown amount of time observing. Less my own son but rather the other children: in the playground, by playdates, later on, in the Kindergarten. Personally, I had no idea what to do with children. What children can do. And no matter the amount of parenting books and lectures I´ve read and listened, I was still puzzled by children, their different behaviors, their communication, their aggressivity. If one wants to understand the source of good and evil, a growing up child can offer a lot of food for thought. Think about the tantrums, those organic energies that can fuel the screams of your beloved little one for hours in a row. But a mother will forget everything once her little one will clung to her tired body and will feel asleep in her arms. What about those few, very few children, that I observed in shock, who were just hurting the other, weaker children? Hurting in such a well-planned way that one (wrongly) imagine that only a diabolic adult mind can plan it at such a lengthy detail?

One of the good literary news of the last decade is that there are books completely demystifying motherhood and children in general. Finally, this kind of topics are coming of age and you can understand it in the more direct, realistic way. Mothers do not always have motherhood instincts, fathers can be good parents, children may be evil, and mothers can abandon their children with no regrets. It happens already in real life for a very long time and I am glad the literary realm caught up with reality.

The Push by the Canadian author Ashley Audrain is a perfect read for those looking for more subtelty and intelligent approach to children and mother and motherhood. It is written by a mother, Blythe, a failed author, whose mother left her, wrinting to the father of her daughter Violet, Fox. They used to be a couple and a second child, a little boy Sam, was also part of the family. Until Violet push the pram on the street when the lights were red. No one but her, the mother, believed this story, until she did it again. But it was too late. 

Besides the topic which is revolutionary, the construction of the story is refined and very detailed. As a work of architecture presumably created by Fox, the shocking events are suddenly happening after pages of homely calm: days filled with glasses of red wine, and house chores and parenting. Fragments from the past, of the long family line of mothers distant from their children, do explain the mutations of the trauma. Is this the real cause for Violet´s criminal profile? Maybe everything has to do in fact with socially forcing motherhood upon women who don´t want or are not ready yet for having children ?

I personally did not like the Blythe character at all. The kind of wasted kind of person who is giving up her life once having a husband and a child. She not even consider having therapy although she is aware of her traumatic motherhood history in her family. Still, she is a lucid voice and although weak, she is trying to figure out the realities around her. But because her weakness, no one take her seriously. 

The Push is a haunting book, cruel and raising doubts about all those pinky given ideas about family life and motherhood and purity of children. It is also well written and I can´t wait to read more by Ashley Audrain.

A special note to the cover which is brainy in its direct simplicity.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Hélène Cixous: Osnabrück

 

Hélène Cixous redefines the borders of writing about existence. Her poetic memorial testimony, Osnabrück, a city without Jews, is the city where her nother, Eva Klein, was born. Eva is always there, with her, in the pages of the book or in every moment of her life. Through her mother, the complex relationship with the world is defined and re-defined, again and again.

On one side, there is the experiemental character of the writing. In a memoir, there is memory who matters and who is shaping the narrative, based on the coming and going of the mind, from the past to the future. In Osnabrück though, there is the present of the moulded memory that is given a voice. Actually, multiple voices, echoing the reverberations of fragments of childhood memories. Voices transcending time and space, geography and history, moving from the visible to the invisible level. Only in this way it can really intimately relate. And intimacy is a language of knowledge - of the world, oneself and the others. 

I´ve read the book in the original French language and the language - through the choice of words and emotional reflection and capacity to outline situations, among others - is absorbing entirely the reader´s attention and energy. 

Born in Oran, Algeria, both Cixous and her brother as well as her mother were involved at certain degrees into the country´s independence struggle. Her first language was German. She is an outstanding intellectual voice and woman philosopher and poet that I can´t wait to keep discovering through more of her writings as well. 

Book Review: The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante transl. by Karin Krieger

It took me less than a month to embark on a new Ferrante bookish adventure, although not necessarily tracing the next steps of the Neapolitan Trilogy. This time, I wanted to continue with a book that was recommended by many of my bookish acquaintances: The Lying Life of Adults, in the German translation from Italian by Karin Krieger. 

The title says it all: adults do live with lies, deceiving themselves and all those they love. But they also deceive children and acknowledging this reality is part of growing up. Growing up...a painful toxic process where the adults´ poison is poured into the innocence. And like this...´childhood is gone´.

In the book, an early teenage girl discovers the existence of a hidden to her aunt with whom she assumely looks like - physically and spiritually. Once this aunt is brought back into her family life, it is the beginning of the end, both of her parents´ relationship and of her innocent life. 

The plot is relatively simple and spatially follows the different characters which are assigned different roles in the tragi-comedy of deceiving. Physical and emotional cruelty and cynicism are the predominant feelings that are part of the adulthood. The lying life of adults, that´s is. The various installments of the story and the behavior of the characters are proofs of the main thesis. Thus, the story goes slowly, but there is a masterwork-coordination of different episodes.

The social elements are also present, but the focus in the book is more on the emotional-human developments. Ferrante is an outstanding painter of human worlds and although, at least in this book, there is such a sad take on growing up, the literary statement is fully proved by the behavior and acts of the characters. People with bad intentions will never have a good life, seems to be one of the author´s takes. 

I am glad that I´ve read the book in the excellent German translation and as I already have the other books by Ferrante, all in German, I will further continue with Krieger´s rendition of Ferrante words.

Rating: 3 stars

Random Things Tours: The Prince of Naples. The True Story of One´s Boy Secret War on the Mafia

 ´My family was very average and very Catholic. I was neither, and I proved it with what I did´.

Not all Mafia stories should be bloody and apologetic. Some, especially those inspired by true facts, are so matter-of-factly that one should easily conclude that the facts accounted for are in fact so pervasive that they are part of the everyday normality.

This was, for me, the saddest conclusion while reading The Prince of Naples. The True Story of One´s Boy Secret War on Mafia as told to writer Hugh Gurney. However, there is also a positive message: as long as even a boy, 12-year old boy, can say ´no´ and eventually win over an organisation as strong as Mafia, everyone can do it.

´In Naples, the Mafia was an integral part of the very system that I wanted to take on´.

The Prince of Naples is a very dense book, both in terms of events and background information. It goes on with the flow of memory and stops alongside very often to add various social and political details to the story. The initial storyteller, who together with the FBI won over a powerful Mafia boss. ´The Prince´ is smart, resourceful and brave, as crazy brave someone should be in order to face Camorra. You better don´t try it on your own, unless you are a crazy genius. 

Although I´ve found once in a while the details too rich and not always relevant for the story, it helps at a certain extent to figure out the main social and political connections and human relationships in Naples. There is nothing like a politically-neutral story, especially when it comes to this part of Italy, and it is not a stereotype but a reality. There are so many social mentions that makes me curious to find out more about the society and the particular historical context. 

On the other hand, there is the personality of The Prince of Naples which makes this story so special and unique and, in the end, successful. ´The Prince´, although a bit narcissist, trust himself good enough to outlive his fears and succeed against the powerful Mafia-bosses. A little bit of help from the American friends arrived in the right moment, but nevertheless, the resilience of the little boy won me definitlely over.

This book is a recommended read to anyone interested in true crime, as well as in Italian contemporary history. It has a valuable documentary value that can further inspire tons of literary works. I would personally interested in watching a movie based on this book as well.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

German Audiobook Review: Das Lichtestein by Marlene Averbeck

 

My reading pace was very slow in the last ten days or so. Nothing special happened, except a very ugly flu - fever, intensive coughing, headache - that wanted to stay with me for a week. First thought was Corona and made all the possible tests as often as possible, but I remember that this is how it goes with me: flu twice the year, in the morning and in the winter and in-between it is health as usual. I got this Monday the flu vaccine - first time ever - and hopefully there will be milder effects the next time, but fact is that my brain was at very low capacity and so was my intellectual energy. Thus, although I have a lot of books waiting for me, I just couldn´t focus enough to finish any. Instead, the audiobooks offered me a good companionship while I was trying to rest after way too much coughing.

Das Lichtenstein. Modehaus der Träume by Marlene Averbeck, read by Sandra Voss was a very easy yet insightful lecture in German - at least I tried during all this time to follow my plan of upgrading my German to stellar levels. 

It is a Berlin-based middle class family story, following the building of the fashion house and store Lichtenstein, at the beginning of the 20th century. Set in the turmoil of the industrialization process, as well as of the calls to war, the books follows the family relationships and their interaction with the representatives of the new social mobility trends. There are love stories and brave young women who are as eager as the owners of Das Lichtenstein to see Berlin as a fashion competitor to Paris (dream on, Berlin, dream on). It is a lot of competition mentioned in this book, as the store was suppposedly trying to get a bigger slice of the market from the historical KaDeWe and thus expect a lot of capitalist vibes, more than in any other German books.

As a work of historical fiction, the book has some catchy elements that may entince the curious (audio)reader: the right ambiance, the immersion into the social and historical times and the characters´ historicity. The ways in which the personal stories match the historical times may not be always very well balanced - sometimes there is too much social history and less ´narrative action´ - but overall, at least for a flu-bedridden human, it was a good literary experience. Improving the German language through the lecture of this audiobook is also an important advantage of listening/reading Das Lichtenstein.

Books are always keeping my mind awake when my body is weak but right now I am delighted to be back in the writing business. There will be many many more reviews coming today and in the next days and I can´t wait to share my eclectic reading list! 

Rating: 3 stars

Book Review: This Mournably Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga

For a very long time I haven´t struggled so hard to read a book like with This Mournable Body by the Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga.

The book is part of the trilogy which starts with the Rhodesian war of independence. I haven´t read either Nervous Condition or The Book of Not where the main character Tambudzai Sigauke but my actual problem was not the coherence of the story or the story as such, but its pace and content in general.

Tambudzai is a kind of Millennial avant-la-letter, with his aimless wandering from a job to another, with no interest for having sustainable relationships - any kind of, in general; she is a lost soul wasting her time until her money will finish, snatching vegetables from the garden of her landlady while fantasizing about how to get into the skin - or bed - of one of her sons, both married, but at least with a roof under their head. A couple of pages later, she completely forgot about it and the widow Maryanga is completely forgotten.

There are funny situations one would be laugh to tears, unless it isn´t because Tambu ends up in a different setting - she had a nervous breakdown, ends up living with the cousin and her German husband, or, at the end of the story, she is working in a security firm. 

Although the action is set in 1990 there are discussions about climate change in the terms of the nowadays conversation. The dialogues between characters sound very artificious. There are references to war and particularly women that were victims of war, and the war trauma is threading sporadically through the story, and this is actually the best part of the book.

Tambudzai is the representative of a generation in crisis, a woman who is unable to cope with her own limitations, but nevertheless persistent. However, the way in which the story is told seriously bothered me as it always happens when you see a vasted narrative potential.

Rating: 2 stars

Book Review: 16 Words by Nava Ebrahimi

 

16 Words - Sechzehn Wörter - are the invisible threads taking the Iran-born Mona in and out her memory lane, from her Cologne childhood and coming-of-age until the Iran of her family. The story is taking place within a period of time of several days, like a road trip novel, only that the trip takes place less on a highway with a number, but on the mischievous memory maze.

Each chapter of the book starts with a Persian word which in further on developped in the short story. Those words are important in a certain context, it is a certain encounter that took place which connects the specific memory of the word with the story where it was used. It is a thread which is created, made of people, emotions and fragments of memory. 

Mona Nazemi, 34 years old, travels with her mother back to Iran for the funerals of her beloved grandmother and while revisiting old friends and childhood places, it is the past who is confirming the present, in the most non-dramatic possible way. The present, what she made out of it is coming to life through the inner dialogue and the interactions with places and people that she remembers or she meets. Both in memory and in real life the encounters are uneventful, there are things happening and words exchange but the life as such is not changed through it. Mona´s life is following its vital flow taking her along until the next present which is about to become soon memory. A memory which will be maybe reminded in a couple of years or words too.

I particularly loved how the words, the Persian words, are not automatically translated for the non-Persian reader, but rather offered a context which may help the reader to understand it. It is a guided exercise directing the reader´s attention towards the beautiful Persian culture and layers of linguistic context. 

Nava Ebrahimi is an interesting writer with a crafty storybuilding and would love to read her newest novel as well. There is so much to say in German about the cultural stories of immigrantion and we need more than 16 words for that.

Rating: 3.5 stars

My November Movie Selection

November was a good month for movie watching. With the days getting shorter and cold, I´ve spent a good amount of hours watching both artistic and documentary movies, both on MUBI and by using various public library loaning services. Hopefully, my December will get even better, as I have a very long list of movies that I plan to see until the end of the month, both in German and French, including documentaries.

La Daronne (Mama Weed) directed by Jeab-Paul Salomé

La Daronne (Mama Weed) featuring Isabelle Huppert is a serious comedy, about an Arabic/French interpreter for the Police ending up through a flip of circumstances, as weed dealer. A very successful one, as smart people can survive in any situations. She is one of a kind: while trying to overcome the years of trauma of suddenly losing her husband, she fells in love with a colleague but how would she keep away from him, and the law authorities in general, her newly lucrative activity? It´s a very funny story reminding how important is to keep being human, no matter where you work for and the circumstances.

Mobutu, roi du Zaire directed by Thierry Michel

A long documentary film - and TV series - produced in 1999, Mobutu roi du Zaire/Mobutu kind of Zair is dedicated to the machiavelistic stardom to power and personality cult of Mobutu Sese Seko. He raised to power in the shadow of Patrick Lumumba - whom he happily betrayed - being involved in Congo´s struggle to independence from Belgium, ending up as the bad landlord of a country whose inhabitants were expected to praise his outstanding achievements - including on enormous mass gatherings. As this year I dedicated a lot of reflection to colonialism and its many manifestations, this movie was an useful resource to figure out more about how the African independence movement was hijacked from its initial aims.

Hidden directed by Jafar Panahi

Hidden is a short movie - 20 minutes - directed by the famous Iranian film director Jafar Panahi featuring also his actress daughter Solmaz Panahi. A journey to a Kurdish village, searching for a woman with a special voice outlines the complexities of permissions and restrictions a woman in a conservative society - village, Iran - is facing. A short yet very insightful perspective.

Nightmare directed by Akiz

The Nightmare directed by the German film director Akiz is about a bizarre outwordly creature hunting a young clubbing girl from a middle class Berlin family. In a very awkward way, there is an exploration of our hidden layers of the mind, especially during the teenage years. I loved the music first and foremost, but I was not so impressed about the topic. Also, for me, the actions of the characters did not match too much the assigned actions in the story. As privy to many complex nightmares, I wished I can forget this movie as fast as possible. 

Diplomacy directed by Volker Schlöndorff

Diplomacy by Volker Schlöndorff is my favorite movies of the month. Schlöndorff also written the scenario for The Tin Drum/Blechtrommel after the novel of Günter Grass which I didn´t like it when I watched it, but I never been a fan of Grass anyway. Diplomacy focuses on the last days of Paris under German occupation and the brave - for the specific historical and political context - decision of the German commander of Paris, Dietrich von Choltitz to avoid the destruction of the city. The meeting between the diplomat and the military was for me the most interesting part as it showed how different the ways of the world may be, but how the power of words can reverse even the most dramatic turns of events. 

Diplomacy is a perfect meeting between an excellent story, with characters played by very good, mature actors. It is one of those movies I will happily see again one day.

The Hate U Give directed by George Tillman Jr.

My review of The Hate U Give is waiting to be written for a year - hope to do it soon, promise - but the movie is equally worth mentioning. It follows the outline of the successful story by the former teen rapper Angie Thomas but amplifies the dramatism of the story through a very inspired play of the actors and equally powerful images. 

The main actress, Amandla Sternberg is simply amazing, as her play transmits the power of coming-of-age of a young girl who does not want to accept the generational injustices she and her ancestors were the victim thereof. For me, the movie and the book were the perfect pendant to more academically oriented books like Caste. 

Uferfrauen - Lesbian Life&Love in the GDR directed by Barbara Wallbraun

Although they assumed their atheism, the communist countries were putting LGBT people under the same stress as in a religious dictatorship. They were imprisoned, blackmailed and put under the strict surveillance of the intelligence services. Uferfrauen is a documentary about lesbian ´life&love´ in the GDR times, collecting stories about becoming aware of your sexuality in times of inauthenticity. The stories do have a strong personal touch and are more than testimonies about crazy times, but genuine stories of finding out and even fighting for freedom and happiness.

Skin directed by Guy Nattiv

Based on a true story, Skin directed by Guy Nattiv features an American neo-Nazi played by Jamie Bell saved by love. It is an aggressive film but with a very good play of actors and a story which focuses on the struggle between darkness and light that although painful can sometimes save us from ourselves.