´I Remain in Darkness´

 

Witnessing the mental and physical degradation of someone you love, someone who is part of your life, who gave you life, is a traumatic experience. You are out of words and the feelings don´t leave place to the intellect to process.

Annie Ernaux´s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer´s at the beginning of the 1980s and died two years and a half later. After each visit, she made entries about her feelings, how her mother changed from a day to another, her constantly changing room companions. Like in the case of her other books I´ve read until now, her writing is a minutious seismographic account of facts and feelings. This time, it goes deep into the darkness of a sickness that takes you away not only your dignity, but your own life as well. 

Je ne suis pas sortie de la nuit - translated as I Remain in Darkness - are her mother´s last articulated words she could remember. Shortly after, she will swimm deep into the troubled waters of amnesia. Reduced to an unrecognizable shadow of her true self, Ernaux identifies her own childhood´s helpless gestures into her mother. 

It is a sad yet realistic depiction of coming at terms with the vulnerabilities and death of a parent. A parent who used to hold our hand and clean us and guide our first unsteady steps. 

As her other novels, the book is short, reduced to essentials yet raising complex questions without answers. A philosophical journey through human misery and inquiry.

Rating: 4 stars

German Book Review: Unterleuten by Juli Zeh

 

Juli Zeh is a popular German young writer, playing the eco game and controversially warning about a WWIII if Germany will deliver weapons to Ukraine. Born in Bonn and a legal studies graduate, she is currently living somewhere in a village in Brandenburg, close to nature and far away from city corruption. I´ve read some of her books in the German version, and they may be helfpful as intellectual introductions to a certain category of Germans born in the 1970s.

My latest encounter is Unterleuten - the name of an imaginary village in Brandenburg which is provided with its own local map -, inhabited by a with weird and sociopath group of people. Some are from the time of the Berlin Wall, some are new enthusiastic young eco families. And there is a project that may bring money to the community that does raise ecological concerns. 

Far from being a thriller, or a crime novel, Unterleuten is a novel about people. They are not necessarily likeable but their interactions is when one can really figure out their duplicity. Not exactly what one may expect from anyone living in the middle of such a anti-urban paradise. From this point of view, the novel is realistic, as living in the middle of the nature does not automatically turn someone into a better human. In the case of this book, is rather the opposite and I am definitely not in awe about the predominantly black side of the story, which makes the characters relatively cartoonish. 

Although the book is average and not surprising from any point of view, the audio setting of the Hörbuch kept my attention awake. Most probably, if I had the physical book, I would have stop before reaching half of it. However, the dynamic and entertaining audio version caught my attention and, at least for the sake of improving my German, convinced me to reach until the end of the 4-CD set.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Book Blog Tour: The Loyal Friend by A.A.Chaudhuri

 

Three friends with almost perfect lives are on a weekly fancy class. Then their beautiful trainer Jade disappears, putting into motion a well of unluck and hidden secrets. In a couple of twists, everything that we envied dearly at those three ladies is an illusion. 

As in her previous book - She´s Mine (hopefully will be able to post a review soon) - A.A.Chaudhuri created in The Loyal Friend a story out of bits and constant switches of points of view, a technique confusing the reader and increasing the suspense until the very (unexpected) ending. It is like a breathless race against the clock, that does not need to be set in an exquisite location or to display an unique cast of characters. You want to read the story until the very end of it, because both the characters and flow of events are at a certain extent relatable. We all had the chance to meet maybe once or even twice women like Susan, Grace or Natalie. There is an average human drama unfolding and this is more confusing than we have to deal with open psychopats or murderers.

When I usually read a thriller or a crime novel, I love to have my own predictions and bet on an ending or another. But - unfortunately for me, as a winner-lover, and a great point for the author - I hardly had any idea about how both novels will end.

Chaudhuri is an elegant skilled master of the plot, which may be sometimes a risky bet in terms of the depth of the characters, but nevertheless, a flawless architect of an intricated story. In order to build and control all the story fine details, it requires a super literary power that she is owning with grace and mystery. 

The Loyal Friend is the perfect adrenaline-loaded book for an eventful day of the mind. It´s hard to put it down therefore, be sure that you are having the day only for it. At the end of it, your definition of loyalty may be challenged, among other things.

Rating: 4 stars

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

´You Can Be Whatever You Want, Girl´

´All right, Girl, if you don´t believe in yourself, no one else will either´. 

From the Shira Halperin, the author of travel inspiration for little ones, Flying Kids comes an inspiring book aimed to empower girls, wherever or whoever they are. The times when the life and bodies of women are designed from an early age by men and men only are not yet behind us. Girls needs to learn how to be bold and reclaim their independence, from a very early age. This is what a book like You Can be Whatever You Want, Girl! is aimed to do.

Designed as an activity book but also as a diary, the book encourage girls to follow the example of Liri, the main protagonist. From setting up goals and organising your life accordingly, to acknowledging the need of a mentor and getting rid of the fear of making mistakes, this book is refreshing, essential, well-focused and...excuse me from being stereotypical...inspiring. 

Especially when at an age of tremendous physical and mental as well as social changes, one needs inspiration, role models. Some may be found in the family or at home, some can be imaginary characters of a book, like Liri. What really matters is to be able to build up that self-awareness without which one cannot build oneself a dignified life.

A bold girl will definitely make the society more open and courageous, including by welcoming women as full-part members of the society.

In addition to the well-smitten wording and many and diverse activities, the book has also the appeal of an attractive design and colourful graphic format.

If you are a mother, aunt, grand-mother, or a father, uncle or grand-father, do your girl a favor and get this book for the summer. Otherwise, if you are a girl looking to end up the summer holidays as a strong woman, save your pocket money for it. It´s worth it and promises a basic mentorship for moving forward in life, career and school. 

The book is also available on KindleUnlimited. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

 

Rachel´s Random Resources Blog Tour: Why We Walk illustrated by Shannon Wilvers

 

Every morning, Siena - named about that famous Italian city - walks to school together with her father. They talk, hold hands and try to spot as many squirrels as possible. They live in Canada, in Ottawa, but are trying to have an environmental-conscious life, walking in order to avoid overloading their planet with a heavy Carbon footprint.

Why We Walk, part of Siena´s stories, anonymously written, is a first grade easy story about parental bond and slow life in the middle of a busy city. By using the story line, the little reader is introduced also to a list of vocabulary as well as topics of dramatic importance for the everyday life of any one of us, no matter the age and geographical location.

Although there are words that are definitely most relevant for the Canadian speaker than for someone looking to learn or to improve their English vocabulary, Why We Walk can be easily used in the classroom or for private lessons aimed at little learners. 

I loved how the environmental message is introduced smoothly into the story, without looking too ideological or rather aimed to follow a mindset than telling the story. I believe that children are the best audience for a honest and genuine message for making the Planet a liveable place.

The illustrations are created by Shannon Wilvers, a Canadian-based digital illustrator.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Book Review: I Want to Die but I Also Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee translated by Anton Hur

´I´ve thought in extremes for so long that I keep forgetting to think otherwise´.

Let´s start with the delicious part: I have a love and hate relationship with Korean food, but I mostly avoid it but I am also curious about trying new foods - within some limits. Reading about food and food histories interests me always but like a language, food is the best to be tried in its everyday environment. I don´t remember to have ever encouter any mention of tteokbokki in my short visits to Korean restaurants in Europe/Germany. Shortly, they are hot and spicy rice cakes, a popular street food dish in Korea. A short Google search revealed that in fact there are a few restaurants in Berlin serving it so my next mission for the coming week is to have a taste of this dish. 

If one is still curious about food, about enjoying something, than he or she has a chance to remain alive - at least until finishing the dish. But, in fact, you never know...

Baek Sehee, the author of the short yet insightful memoir I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, was at first hand diagnosed with dypthymia, a persistent depressive disorder. Labels are in most cases very problematic in psychological practice, unless there are clear extrem classified symptoms like schizophrenia. The everyday depression though may mislead and trick on classifications and the testimony of the author´s therapist is a testimony of how limited science is in dealing properly with the challenges of the brain. 

Sehee is a successful social media director at a publishing house, has relationships, a degree, an average salary still unhappy. She is looking at herself through the eyes of the others: colleagues, passants, former school mates. Practically everyone. Like a flower in the wind, she is moving violently back and forth, in the hidden chambers of her mind. There is darkness and medication and doubts. A cycle of self-assumed failures and depression, a fear of attachment. She searches for self-esteem quizzes on the Internet, but most importantly, she is getting a therapist.

The book is mostly a collection of her recorded therapy sessions, plus a couple of short and beautifully written essays. ´I want to focus on the things that are changing and keep hoping´. Not everyone is going through bouts of depression and self-depreciation and I suspect that social pressure and family context force at a great extent the disbalance to manifest. Any traditional society - Korean or Middle Eastern or Eastern European - may ignore the wishes of individuals to write their own life stories. Often such projections belittle any individual who may consider the help of a therapist. 

The testimonies of Bael Sehee are reminder of the hardship of surviving darkness every single moment. It´s a bet, worth a tteokbokki at least.

A special note to the seamless translation by Anton Hur, whom I discovered through one of my favorite collection of short stories of the decade. I don´t speak any word of Korean although I hope to be able to one day. But reading I Want to Die...I never felt any single moment the need to doubt the choice of a word or the structure of a sentence. All came to place seamlessly and beautifully. It´s highly probably that the original text is at least as beautifully written as the translation and I owe this conclusion to the faultless translation by Anton Hur.

Rating: 5 stars

Random Things Tours: Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda translated by Alison Watts

´At some point during this night, will I be able to get her to say with her own lips that she killed that man?´.

´Will he tell me the truth? And if he does, will he believe me whwn I say that I have no intention of reporting him?´

A young couple is spending their last night together before breaking up for good. They realized their story does not have any future recently, during a trip when their guide violently died. During their last night, each hopes to convince the other one to confess the crime of having killed the guide. But the hour of truth arrives when there is a truth to reveal.

I dare to compare Fish Swimning in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda translated from Japanese by Alison Watts  to a painting, whose details are revealing surprisingly under the brushes of the painter. The ways in which the strory is built are highly precise, starting from the details of the rooms to the details of the plot. The hints are hiting a crescendo after the other, as the reader is wisely guided into the final revelation of the story. 

It is a book of fine and elegant psychological suspense, raising questions and keeping the reader constantly connected to the story as curious and keen to reveal - or being revealed - the truth. The permanent switch between one point of view to another infuses a unique dynamism and suspense into the story. You feel like your head is constantly switching from the right to the left, until you just forgot which side you are and then...boom!...we have a solution.

Besides being an excellent suspense crime story, this book raises in parallel several fundamental questions and discussions, such death and relationships. Such an intellectual intermezzo may actually help to fix the details of the story, and gives depth and character to the protagonists of the story.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Book Tour: The East German Police Girl by Natalia Pastukhova

 

In a small university town in East Germany, anti-regime posters are shaking the communist dream. It is the year 1955, announcing a dramatic move of the tectonic plates of the totalitarian regimes. State-pawns are set into motion for searching the culprit. 

In totalitarian regimes, everything is touched by politics. Innocent lives are at risk, by the simple act of protest of a family member. From the beginning until the end, The East German Police Girl by Natalia Pastukhova is repeatedly outlined. Either the result of the encounter with Stasi, or by simply not accepting the fake truth sold by the communist establishment, destinies are put on hold or simply brutally destroyed.

The author creates the right, time-bounded ambiance of the time, both in terms of language and of specific political details. The dialogues are the strongest part of the book, as it reveals the best different character features and details about them. 

There is a diverse cast of characters bringing The East German Police Girl to life although not all of them properly displayed or featured within the story. However, the main players do reflect at a great extent the everyday life pressure and intricacies.

The East German Police Girl is a book recommended to anyone interested in contemporary historical fiction with a touch of political adventures. Especially those passionate about Cold War and communist histories will be delighted to follow and imagine the life of the characters.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Book Review: Les Prépondérants by Hédi Kaddour

 

Set in a small village in the North of Africa - Nahbès - Les Prépondérants - The Influence Peddlers, according to the English translation by Teresa Lavender Fagan - by Tunesian author Hédi Kaddour - follows the encounters of an American crew from Hollywood interacting with the locals during the production of a film. They are called Les Prépondérants as applied to a group in a position of economic, social and politic superiority and not simply the Elites because the chosen word gives a better measure of the amount of the discrepancies. 

First and foremost, the book is a social novel, which explores on different levels the interactions between those who were born in a position of priviledge and those who haven´t. It is a relatively easy construction, with a clear dynamic, therefore what is interesting is the extent to which the author is exposing various inequalities and civilization shift which is about to happen.

There are some interesting dynamics between characters, of a purely sociological nature and recent reflections on the issue of colonialism, particularly French influence in this part of the world. However, most of the time, I felt like the action does not necessarily takes place at a specific moment of time, as it can easily happen in our times as well. There is a certain feeling of familiarity and mental comfort that does not necessarily make justice to the chosen topic of the novel.

I also felt like that many fragments of the story could have been easily either reduced or eliminated, as they are just filling up the space of the story without necessarily bringing anything new to the story itself. Somehow, the good intentions of the storytelling are lost somewhere in the first quarter of the novel. Which is a pity, because there is a good premise and a good idea and developing it in the 1920s might guarantee a certain distance from the current self-criticism about caste and priviledges. But the momentum was lost in my opinion.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Artists and Power: Le Monument by Elsa Triolet

I will try another time to understand why society is so harsh on intellectuals who embraced the communism - including its Stalinist version - but rarely sanctions with the same violence the far right suppoters. At least, there were many able to figure out of the ideological errors and eventually analysed in a critical way their support. For instance, there are many literary confessions and novels inspired by the failures of communism, particularly the one applied in the Soviet Union, signed by French or Spanish intellectuals, among others. How many righ-wing writers went through such a reflective process of acknowledging their blindness? There is something to think about it in this case.

Talking about the French intellectual realm, all eyes were so much on Sartre and de Beauvoir, with their betrayals and separate yet together lives, but there is hardly half of this amount said about another literary couple: Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon. Triolet and Aragon who also fought together in the French Resistance, were together for 42 years, supported each other´s works and, were supporters of Soviet/Stalinist Russia.

Aragon was a founder of surrealism, and before, a Dadaist. His poems that I had the chance to read in French have a rich imagery and an unique language. His wife and muse, Elsa Triolet was born in Moscow in a middle-class intellectual Jewish family and had an equally famous sister who spent her life in Russia though, Lilya Brik, who was a member and supporter of the Russian avantgarde and, among others, the beloved of Mayakovsky. It seems that Aragon first met Triolet in the company of Brik and her lover, as well as of the film director Sergei Eistenstein, of Potemkin fame. 

I´ve re-read Le Monument after many many years and it wasn´t easy to do it. My mother - of blessed memory - loved both Triolet and Aragon and we often used to read and talk together about their works. Especially Le Rossignol se Tait à l'Aube (I wish I can find my copy lost during frequent movings, probably an impossible mission). How I wish after I finished the book to be able to hear her opinion and exchange some heated arguments about art and politics, as we used to. This post is for you, Ima.

Le Monument is inspired by the events that shaked the Communist Party - in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, following the revelations about the personality cult after the death of Stalin. After so many years, I am still trying to figure out the fascination of Stalin for so many intellectuals, altough he was not an ideologue and overall a grotesque cruel dictator. Maybe due to his success during the war...Another food for thought. There is also a specific episode who nurtured Triolet´s intellectual curiosity and expanded her understand of the clash between art and artists on one side, and ideology, on the other side. On the occasion of Stalin´s death, Picasso sent to the official newspaper of the French Communist Party L'Humanité, a drawing of Stalin which was considered licentious and worth a harsh proletarian critique.

Lewka, the main character in Le Monument, is going through a similar experience, but he is unluckily so invested into and inebriated by his mission as an artist that he will end up killing himself. A French-educated artist, with connection with Cubists, he was commissioned by comrade Torsch, a former political prisoner.

In a purely literary, not ideological way, Triolet is revealing the struggles, limitations and absurdities of the artist quest to create a realm for his arts and interpretations. The political weight of the momentum is as overwhelming as in the ´old times´ the church´s authority. The interpretation of art is done through standards foreign to the art and therefore, the artist himself is alienated from the source of his contentment: the free creativity.

The action of the book takes place ´somewhere´ in a popular democracy, in Central and Eastern Europe. The exact geography is irrelevant because Lewka´s self-questioning under the empire of political ideology was shared by many local intellectuals. Not surprisingly, the book was only translated in Hungary, one of the countries that enjoyed certain levels of intellectual freedom. 

I am planning to spend more time in my happy place of French leftist delusions in the coming months and Le Monument is one of the most lucid acknowledgements of the impossible marriage between talent and politics. An artist is not a teacher or a prophet able to inspire and nurture masses. Art is elitist in its inner composition and the failures of the supporters of popular democracies like the imaginary yet so real Lewka, can teach us a whole lot about it.

Book Review: Die Bagage by Monika Helfer

Die Bagage - the suitcase - is a family reconstruction of the author´s mother. Grete was born in a village, as the daughter of Maria and Josef Moosbrugger, a poor family named ´Die Bagage´, a heavy human weight for the locality they were living. While Josef is at war (WWI), the mayor is taking care of the family. When a foreigner from Hannover comes to visit, shortly after Maria is getting pregnant with Grete. Paternity may be unsure, but Grete is part of the family.

The book is part of a wider take on literary memoirs: it uses a biographical detail which is fictionalised at a great extent within the limits of personal facts. We may not know exactly the contents of the discussions between the mayor and Maria for instance, which took place long before Grete was born. Maybe those stories were not directly shared by her grandmother. Nevertheless, those details are less relevant, they serve as a counter-point of the factual account itself. 

I´ve found it an interesting exploration, playing tricks with the always unclear borders between fiction and nonfiction, between facts as they were, and facts as we do remember and facts as we imagine them. 

Die Bagage is part of a memorialistic trilogy, and I will soon review the next volume Vati, about her father. The cover of this trilogy is outstanding, the difuse colours and moving plans of the painting being a proper illustration of the memory games the author herself is playing with.

I had access to the book in the audiobook format, read by the author, but I haven´t enjoyed too much her voice. 

Rating: 3 stars

Random Things Tours: Tell Me the Truth about Love by Susanna Abse

 

Relationships conjugate truth with love. More than with trust and surprisingly even more than with intimacy. When we talk about true love, we don´t stop mid-way, we go fast through the highest peaks of perfection. We want to be the best for the best of us. But somewhere half-way, or even earlier, we taste the sour grapes of failure. Sometimes love is not enough or there is no trust and intimacy is an illusion. 

Some may never knew what true love is. 

There is no other better place to learn about love than the therapist´s couch. A therapist is blessed to have access to so many different stories about love and how to be out of love, but it is also cursed to be shared the sadness of broken hearts. Sharing those experiences with wider audiences may help to understand our own relationships, feelings in couple and especially our errors therefore I am a big readers of family and relationship therapy testimonies.

Tell Me the Truth about Love by Susanna Abse is an intriguing collection of 13 tales of couples who decided to ask the help of a therapist for moving forward or maybe out of love. Abse has 30 years of experience as a coach and family therapist and is a former chair of the British Psychoanalytic Council, and presenter of Channel 4 News Britain on the Couch. 

Every story features different situations created by people with different mentalities, backgrounds and age. Thus, their approaches to relationships and ultimately, love, may differ and is not always open to change. Some are willing to be part of the emotional process of building trust, some others can´t wait to separate and start probably different stories. 

I may confess that I´ve found all stories interesting, but longed for much more. I bet it was difficult to make a selection after thousand of stories but as any therapist may outline, humanity is an open book and there is never shortage of characters. I was personally intrigued by the idea of curiosity as a part of building trust and the basis of a relationship. But it does make a lot of sense, as when someone is curious, most likely is not judgemental and stays open to discover the other person and its personality.

Tell Me the Truth about Love adds a lot of important testimonies about what does it mean to love and be loved in our contemporary era. It is a book written with the knowledge of the therapist and the acknowledgeable empathy of someone who herself may remain curious about the hardships of love. A must-read for anyone keen to understand how relationships may work, no matter if single or in a loving relationship.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Book Review: Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-jin translated by Jamie Chang

 

Concerning my Daughter by Kim Hye-jin, translated by Jamie Chang who also translated Born 1982, is the social report of a slightly confused single mother of an academic lesbian daughter in her 30s. Green has to move back home to her mother after being dismissed from university, mostly because of her queer choice of curricula. Soon, she her girlfriend of seven years joins her, forcing her mother to acknowledge the reality of her daughter choice of relationship.

The mother´s confusion is amplified as she notices with fear the other changes taking place in the world she lives. In a society where respect towards elders is highly revered there are old people getting old and dying alone. People with a high education and status - ´the professor´s wife´ - do end up tragically, in a nursing home, the place where the mother is currently working.

The society shifts and the tremendous pressure to comply to the rules - ´why are you wasting your precious time?´ is the mother asking Green, requesting her to start looking for a man and to make children - remain only for the parents. Parents like Green´s mother do not understand the new world - she is asking how her daughter may enjoy her sexual life with Lane, among others - the freedom of being relived from the society pressures, although still depending on their parents - like Green returning to her mother´s house, although at an age when she is supposed to have her own. 

At a great extent, the mother is relatable. I can imagine a woman, in her 50s, unable to grasp the life of her estranged academic daughter, although she has all the love in the world to start understanding and maybe, one day, accepting her. She projects her fears on her daughter, because her prescience of an eventual tragical outcome is all she can hang on to. If this is not going to turn out badly, then it means that her own view of life may be obsolete in the end, isn´t it?

The story builds up in mirror, with either the daughter or her mother accounting about the same events they experienced or, in the case of the mother, her additional experience at the nursing home, which relates to her fears. Those are the only glimpses we are offered into the life and personalities of the characters, which although it is far from being complete, it leaves us enough place to imagine and project our own expectations and, why not, fears.

I had access to the book in the British-accented reading of Minhee Yeo. 

Rating: 4 stars

Historical Fiction Book Review: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

´Delivering books will be our way of resisting´.

In the occupied France, the American Library remains a beacon of love for books. Based on true facts and persons working at The American Library in Paris during WWII, the bestseller book by Janet Skeslien Charles is a work of historical fiction built around the story of French Odile, a once young lady enthusted for books. Now at an old age, living alone in Montana, she reveals and shares her well hidden story to the young neighbour Lily.

´Books are like people, withouit contact they cease to exist´.

The timeline switches between 1939 and 1983, between Paris and Montana. The beautiful part of the book has to do with the power of books, any kind of books, during hard times, both personally and at the society level. Books and libraries can play this role of uniting people and creating a camaraderie which far from escaping reality, it creates in fact a reality of its own, without barriers and obstacles. The books and authors mentioned though are recognizable names, pertaining to the categories of books everyone seems to read.

Paris is invaded by the ´boches´ and people switch sides, denounce their Jewish neighbours or the potential resisters. Some just switch sides and women prefer to enjoy the company of Germans, securing a piece of chocolate or some luxury goods. I understand very well the human lows and the fact that survival instinct always prevail, but both accusing and excusing may go wrong. There are facts and attitudes and we, as humans, we may observe, judge, do the same or avoid doing the same. I was not terribly impressed about some hints about trying to explain why was it so easy to end up in bed with the enemy.

Another aspect of the book that did not fully resonate with me was that for me, the voice of Odile and the voice of Lily was almost the same. The 1980s setting - with the Cold War looming, among others - was useful but not necessarily intrinsic to the story. It could have been Australia of the 1970s or Italy of the 1990s. As a reader, I couldn´t figure out clearly the Montana from the book. 

I may confess that I am stricter with historical fiction books than with a contemporary novel. It may be my concern for accuracy, but also because I am still far from being a regular reader of this genre, therefore, I am tempted to be cautious and apply higher evaluation standards. One of the aims of my summer is to read much more historical fiction, therefore, maybe I will hone both my reader and reviewer skills. 

The Paris Library made me miss France and Paris - honestly, everything that has the word Paris in it does it, so it is not a relevant, objective observation - but interested me more in reading more French story of WWII. France and books about Paris, that´s a generous slice of paradise, anyway.

Rating: 3 stars 

Random Things Tours: The Chemical Cocktail by Fiona Erskine

Anyone interested in spending some adventurous bookish time from one end of the world to another, The Chemical Cocktail by Fiona Erskine is the perfect companion. A new installment of Jaq Silver mysteries, it can be easily read as a stand alone story.

Jaq´s mother died poisoned and the unexpected inheritage she received is even more poisonous. This unusual inheritance will project her in the middle of global conspiracies and a dirty net of corruption. She is eager to discover by herself all the mysteries behind it, but soon she will be revealed dirty secrets and mysteries that will change her life. 

The promise is as exciting as the execution of the idea. The Chemical Cocktail has frequent changes of situations and thrilling twists. Besides the marathon of the actions there is a marathon of sensations and impressions taking over. The pace of the story is fast and both the travel and the chemical details are well researched.

By far, Jaq is the most interesting character in the book, well developed and able to build a story around her character. I didn´t feel the same about any other character though, which at a certain extent is a downside, as in a mystery, a one-woman show may steal from the pleasure of (mis)leading the reader in different directions therefore adding more complex layers to the novel.

The author is a chemical engineer herself, therefore the chemistry references are well researched. Each chapter is assigned an element from the periodical table, an idea I really love, as one may not find too many chemistry rendition in contemporary literature.

The Chemical Cocktail is an invitation to adventure as well as a journey through well-hidden family secrets. I may continue with other books from the series soon, as I am tempted to get to know more about the story of the character Jaq.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Book Review: Selfies by Jussi Adler-Olsen translated by Hannes Thies

As a newly member of the cult of audiobooks listeners, I had different experiences, more or less pleasant, but in all cases, what in the end keeps my attention awake or distracted is the voice of the reader. If in the case of the physical book, the time and the location as well as the mood at the time of the reading matter, the audio books do need to be equally appealing for the ear. Especially for someone as hyperactive as me, the voice should simply keep myself focused and interested in listening the continuation of the story. In fact, this is not always happening and the result is that either I may get in the end the book in physical format, or I have to return to the audio part which I was distracted enough to follow properly.

Selfies, by the Danish Noir writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, had the chance of being read in the German version - translated by Hannes Thiess - by actor Wolfram Koch. Not only the voice was the right addition to the suspenseful story, but the whole setting was aimed to offer an unique experience matching the book. In my experience, the German audiobooks do have outstanding studio effects and frequently used multi-awarded actors as voice overs. Hopefully soon I will be able to delve more into this unique feature of German audiobooks industry.

Jussi Adler-Olsen was my second Danish author to feature on the blog and a representative of the well-deserved praised ´Nordic Noir´. I prefer to avoid labels of any kind, particularly geographical ones, but beyond all categories and shoeboxes, Selfies is a book that could have not been written in any other part of the world. The references are rooted into daily local experiences and biographies, therefore, are very important for an overall understanding of the novel. Also, as the title suggests, smartphones and social media temptations in general, may be a game changer not only for the society, but for crime writers and homicide detectives as well. 

In the span of few weeks, several women are found dead, or are victim of accidents taking place in unclear circumstances. Some of the women are on social support or do have the experience of living as social outcasts. In fact, most of the characters in the book do have a troubled past which involved a relatively limited social ability and a low social status. They may aim at changing their condition, but do lack the moral choices to do it, therefore, they rather prefer to further swim in the troubles waters of the precarious subsistence.

Homicides detective Carl Mørck, featured in previous books by Adler-Olsen, assisted by the intelligent Assad, is supposed to find the culprit(s). Although we, as readers, we know well already who did it, tracing into their steps, is a thrilling experience itself. Thus, instead raising the question of ´Who?´, the book plot focused on the reasons of ´Why?´ and pacing slowly towards the ´When?´. I rarely had a similar experience, therefore it was equally exciting to wait for the end of the book.

Interestingly, the issues of poverty, parental abuse, chronical sickness, mental health, bullying, women condition are very smartly inserted into the story, an aspect which brings much depth into understanding the circumstances and the eventual reasons of the crime(s).

Hopefully, will have the chance soon to discover more books from the series, and delve into the literary art of this author. A good audiobook version of the book is definitely an available option. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Random Things Tours: Nothing Else by Louise Beech

One of the many advantages of being part of blog tours, is the chance to constantly discover new authors and literary voices, talking on different levels of complexity that maybe otherwise will not be able to know about. Time is limited, the amount of books regularly published requires 10 livetimes of nothing else but reading and in addition, finding the right sources of information about the best books to read is not easy either. Therefore, getting the help of trustworthy book endorsers is a precious gift. Part of the process of being a frequent book reviewer is also getting to know edition houses publishing high quality titles, like Orenda Books. I´ve hardly read a book they published that did not tickled my reading senses.

My latest read from them is Nothing Else by Louise Beech, an author I´ve heard about before but was never committed enough to discover how. Now, I just can´t wait to read another of her books.

What really impressed me in the case of this book, is the very rare use of music as a story background. The main character of the book, Heather Harris, is a piano teacher and professional musician. Her sister, Harriet, disappeared without a trace, but she is longing for finding her ever since. As she is trying to make a career switch playing on a cruise, by playing the special song of her and her sister, a snowball of memories is put into motion in unexpected ways. A touch of faith but also a longing.

Although the book follows a line alongside a mystery, the second but not least important layer of the book explores the intricacies of trauma and memories and how music is an escape yet a companion of pain as it can be both a reminder of and a antidote to suffering. The way in which the trauma and the drama are internalised and consumed by the characters, particularly Heather, was one of the most interesting parts of reading this book.

Louise Beech proves to be a fine observer and crafter of words and meaningful scenes. It takes a significant amount of strength and knowledge of human feelings to create a story of sisterhood and family bonds avoiding the sugary romantic temptations. 

Last but not least, the book comes with a Spotify list of songs mentioned in the book, which is another level of connecting arts of different intellectual textures.

Rating: 4.5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: Magical Rescue Vets/Blaze the Phoenix

I struggle a lot in the last months to read fantasy novels, as I feel that I do not resonate at all with anything which does not happen within a predictable, preferably over-realistic amount of time. But it may work better with fairy tales, therefore my challenge of reading a book aimed definitely to a much much younger audience, but with a magic touch that does not have any age limit.

Blaze the Phoenix by Melody Lockhart illustrated by Morgan Huff is the third installment from the Magical Rescue Vets series. There may be references from previous books, but as a rule, it is a stand-alone book and can be easily understood without reading the other ones. The book is aimed at an audience of 7-10 years old (and their parents going maybe, like me, through a magical crisis), boys or girls, with a love for animals and a hint of magic.

But what exactly one should expect from reading it? Although there is a lot of action to keep your impatient little one busy with - like the fact that some funny magic happened in an enchanted forest and the animals - magic too - were transformed into babies, it is also a serious layer undergoing the story. One of the character in the book said that it is not ready to grow up and maybe, through the events taking place at Starfall Forest there is something to learn about adding year after year to life.

The adventures-packed story is entertaining and hilarious, keeping the little reader awake both through the dialogues, images and the spectacular course of events. The voices of the characters are genuine, suited for their personality and age. All those, by integrating the magic into the everyday life. 

Maybe, after all, I should be more stubborn and not give up trying to get more magic into my literary life.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Riding Free through Kermanschah

 

Most of the contemporary Iranian books published in translation are usually set in big cities, particularly the capital city of Tehran, or Isfahan or Shiraz. I don´t remember any book set in Kermanshah, for instance, a Western city, over 500 km. away from the capital city. With a population of almost one million, it is the largest Kurdish-speaking city in Iran, that played an important role in deciding the fate of the Iran-Iraq war, but also an oil-rich location.

Ungebremst durch Kermanschah/Unbraked through Kermanschah, but with a smart words game can be also translated as Uninhibited/Free through Kermanschah - by Maryam Djahani - translated into German by Isabel Stümpel - is centered around the story of a woman from a Kurdish family, Shohre, that chosed to be a taxi driver. A divorcee, she lives together with her niece and is experiencing the prejudices against her professional choice.

The book is written asn an account of Shohre´s daily experiences, therefore a direct testimony of her condition. It is intimate and personal while making the reader her partner in the story. There are the usual mentions of inequality status for women and - at least - frequent verbal abuse, especially when chosing to do a job as a taxi driver, usually assigned to a man. At a very much extent predictable, although the women struggle are moderately described, and there are no political references and harassment by the religious police, as the author still lives and publishes in Iran. Definitely not the critics against society makes someone a good writer, but my problem with this book is that the story is average and so are the characters. I didn´t expect them to be heroic or extreme, after all, most of us are everyday people. However, I felt that the characters in this book are like shades of the paper cuts. No personality, no strength and doing what it is expected from them to do. 

Maryam Djahani, herself from a Kurdish family, was born in Kermanshah. Ungebremst durch Kermanschah is her debut novel. I am curious about other Iranian authors featuring other urban and non-urban areas. Hopefully, with more appealing literary achievements.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Random Things Tours: Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

It is very challenging to create an eventful story in a place where nothing is supposed to happen. A place where people go because they don´t expect anything else than a predictable, quiet passing of the days. But this is not truth because there is almost no such a place, where things are just perfect. This is because there is always a temptation of evil in humans. Doing bad or good is a personal choice, but bad sounds sometimes easier to deal with. At least on short term. 

Most of the action in Local Gone Missing by award-winner and bestselling author Fiona Barton is taking place in such a sleepy place, Ebbing. Detective Elise King on medical leave due to chronical sickness was expecting to relax there, but it seemed it was not meant to be. A local is gone missing and shortly thereafter found dead. By professional reflex she is getting interest in answering the questions about the crime, ending up totally in charge with the case and finally catching the real culprit.

There are many reasons why Charlie disappeared, and like a game of cards, the well-hidden secrets of many residents of the quiet Ebbing are revealed in a spectacular way. Even though there are many interesting twists of the story, nothing prepared me for the ending. 

All along the story, the new details are revealed at a relatively slow yet surprising pace. The back and forth of the timeline, with episodes from the life of the characters setting up as pieces of a puzzle is a very smart idea and carefully keeps the events under the author´s wise control.

Local Gone Missing is a well-written and -planned novel with a local touch of mystery. There are many characters well portrayed in this book, but my favorite so far is Elise, for her analytic, smart and emotionally intelligent way to explore and compared the many possible plots.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Poet by Louisa Reid

There are many ways to write about abusive relationships and fear of loss, and poetry is a way of it. Writing a novel in verses about it, there is a different level of literary audacity. The topic is always of high interest and there are so many ways to write about it but poetry makes it more stringent and visible. Poetry builds bridges between souls therefore, the best way to look deep into someone else´s soul. Or oneself.

The novel proceeds in poetic installments of different lengths. There is a lyrical and philosophical touch which now I realize cannot be achieved exclusively through the prose. All those nuances and variations are definitely lost in the process of emotional translation into prose, but are just flourishing under the poetry spell. 

This is how the long story of Emma, once a promising student, who failed for her much older teacher, goes. He manipulated her admiration for him into a destructive behavior which effectively took her away from the creative fold reducing her existence to a purely domestic role. It is another way to express psychological pressure by taking away from her the right to say now, humiliating her intelligence and trying to convince her to deny her own right to create. From a paternalistic position of patriarchy this verdict is taken by him, but her rage subsists and survives the heartbreak.

The Poet is Reid´s debut for adults, but she wrote poetry novels for young adults too. It is a delightfully intellectual experience to realize the diversity of worded stories. A special note to the equally poetic book cover.

Rating: 4 stars

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

 

Book Review: First Comes Like by Alisha Rai

´Not a date. Just a chance to pretend he was on one´.

First Comes Like by Alisha Rai is a Pakistani-Indian romance which starts as a ridiculous catfishing story. Dev, the heir of a famous Bollywood family, has been set up an online dating profile by his close male relatives. Out of all the virtual matches, it is Jia, a Pakistani-American make-up YouTube influencer who keeps chatting with ´him´. The fake will eventually discovered for a while, but the real Dev wants to apologize for the treachery and ends up marrying her.

The book is the third installment from the Modern Love series, but it can be read as a stand alone book, although the characters do move from a book to another. 

Despite of being interested in any kind of modern times dating stories - especially online - the multi-cultural aspect was of interest for me as well. I am equally looking for a more diverse representation of relationships, far from the current Western/American model, with a different spin and/or approach. Shortly, I had certain expectations from this book, both in terms of story and of character development.

After a bit over 400-page of reading, I may confess that I wasn´t very much convinced about. There are several reasons for it. First and foremost, despite the relatively spectacular start, after the first quarter, it evolves clearly and predictably towards an expected ending: they are getting married. Definitely, when you meet the love of your life, it is a normal way to re-start things, but in this case, the attraction is rather suggested than it really happens. Dev´s story is much more detailed and represented, while Jia is rather reduced to the fact that she is hijabi, but at what extent her choice and her cultural background define her identity is largely unclear. Last but not least, the timeline of some episodes, particularly after they are getting married looks completely wrong to me, as they do not correspond to their assigned time slot - too many events in such a short time etc.

I deeply wished to like this story but my interest diminished considerably in the second half of it. Sometimes, there is nothing to do about it, either it comes to books or to relationships.

Rating: (an indulgent) 3 stars

Rebecca Solnit and a Journalism Back to Sources

 

With or without reason, journalism is in a crisis. Crisis of credibility, of personnel, lack of awareness about what a world without journalists may look like. I´ve read Solnit´s Unfathomable City and her reports about New Orleans - its divisions, failures and social fractures. Her short Call Them by Their True Names was another account of America´s fight with its own demons.

Through writing she reveals herself, her old memories and lost childhood encounters. In one of her essays, she looks herself in the mirror noticing not only the time passt but also her present, her changes. Serious genuine writing cannot avoid being personal, which means 1st person-oriented. But through her own experiences the other subjects she is writing about can be better framed and understood. 

Living in a poor part of the city is more than a geographical detail, it is part of her effort to understand how poor people may live and exist. It is a journalistic effort which require time and dedication and defines her choice of topics featured as well. 

As an extension of this logic, she can exist and account about what a gender-fuelled society mean for a woman, her encounters as a woman with the enemies of her womanhood. 

Her journalistic creed requires precision and high alert. Empathy is limited by her quest for truth and the choice of words defining the situation as it is and as it is described by those experiencing it. In the end, the final frame is a fragment of reality, a subjective sequence as reported by the journalist aiming at reflecting objectively the truth. 

I will continue to delve into Solnit´s works because of both the writing and the professional inspiration. It is also a reminder that there are still voices devoted to report from all ways of life, everyday life of everyday people. 

Short Stories from North Macedonia: My Husband by Rumena Bužarovska

 

Mein Mann/My Husband by Rumena Bužarovska, translated from Macedonian into German by Benjamin Langer is a portrait in 11 installments of everyday men. Some educated, some not, some lacking any empathy, some considering themselves the best gifted artists, who love to be surrounded by women other than their wives. 

They are not aggressive towards their wives, not even think about murdering them as the crime novels may suggest sometimes. They are just themselves, used to be served, with a trophy wife or a wife they dedicated a poem or two to. Usually, their wived depend on them - because when should they have enough time to do anything with their lives than dedicate to their men. Therefore, when they may open the discussion of getting out of the relationship, the men overreact because even like to add women to their collection they pretend them to be submissive and very quiet about everything they do. 

The women from Rumena Bužarovska´s stories are not alone though, as they enjoy the support and advice of other women, They may get entangled in grotesque episodes and do not give up. They even consider divorce and separation. But they don´t always take their men too seriously. 

The writing is humorous, with unexpected endings. There is a lot of empathy - when it comes from women - and having a woman´s perspective although is a risk taken by narrowing the point of view - it is nevertheless ab assumed choice. Those stories are about women taking control of their lives from men and therefore, it is their voices which should be heard.

Rumena Bužarovska wrote another four collections of short stories and is one of the founders of the #MeToo movement in North Macedonia.

Rating: 4 stars

My May Movie Selection

May was a very busy month, with completely new professional projects, many books and a lot of time spent learning languages, but relatively limited amount of time for watching movies. However, I got to see some movies that are worth sharing my impressions.

Kajillionaire directed by Miranda July

A young 26 yo lady with the given name by her odd trickster parents Old Dolio Dayne is trying to break up from her hopeless life. From an early age, she was taught all the possible tricks in order to help her alternative-hippy-minded parents - crocks, actually - to steal a bit from here, or from there. An odd blonde long-haired character, a looney like her parents, she is almost out of it, while discovering little things in life - such as wearing something else than the loose sport suit. It is a tragi-comic slice from the life of an odd American family, at the survival limit. Kajillionaire shines by the game of the main actors, although the story is not so complex.

Brüder, a documentary directed by Züli Aladag

A 3-hour long documentary directed by the Turkish-born Züli Aladag, Brüder - Brothers - follows the journey of a normal German boy - with girls, drinks, drugs and techno dancing - in the heart of the Daesh - the Islamic State. Allured by Salafists to join their ranks, Jan is getting lost between two worlds, giving up everything without being able to figure out what exactly he got - except the relative religious comfort. It is an interesting topic if you are interested in religious extremism and youth radicalisation.

Mother directed by Bong Joon-Ho

With a ending less bloodier than Parasite it remains a memorable movie, with a mother whose duty towards her intellectually diverse son takes the shape of a monomanic hybris. Although the social critique is less transparent than in Parasite, still the mother is caught in a net of local connivences and the lack of any trace of human empathy towards the son. Her strong belief in the innocence of her son and her obstinate search for the truth are strong enough to define her exclusively through the features of her definition. She is a Mother, par excellence, in the very extreme sense of the definition.

Cinema Jenin directed by Marcus Vetter

I believe in the transformative power of cinema and culture in general. People, especially young children, exposed to culture, do have more chances - although not fully guaranteed - to open themselves towards the other based on their human curiosity and not on the religious or passport identity. Cinema Jenin, a project of the German film director Marcus Vetter, reminded me at a certain extent of Kabullywood. In both cases there are enthusiastic people ready to invest time and energy in reviving a cultural project, but there are even many more who prefer to keep their people in ignorance and hate. If one will watch with attention and without prejudice this movie, will maybe find the answer to the question why a Palestinian-Israeli dialogue is so difficult on the cultural front: because people who do it openly, especially on the Palestinian side, may pay with their own life, in a realm where indoctrination and the lack of alternatives feeds the extremism. Unfortunately, local interests decided to kill Cinema Jenin a second time, this time for ever, as in its place a real estate project is under development. 

With a beautiful summer winking on me, I hope to have some time to see my long list of movies that I prepared for June. If not, there will be time in July as well. Better breath and drink the summer now, until the dark and cold weather will let me with no alternative but staying at home.

The Poetry of the German Language

 

Abenteuer der deutschen Grammatik. German grammar is definitely not boring. Not that kind of boring where you can expect to start being correctly fluent in just a couple of months. I usually share with my German learning students a quote by Mark Twain who said that eternity was created in order to learn German. Most probably not that kind of encouragement one needs when starting to learn this language. 

I was waiting to read something by Yōko Tawada after listening to a discussion with her many years back. Her personal account on identity exploration, particularly through language and grammar sounded intellectually entincing for me, hence the curiosity to discover her narrative interpretations as a Japanese/Asian/non-German living and writing in the German language. 

Doing it to poetry sounded even more appealing, given my recent interest in better understanding poetry. Languages are such a complex medium for convening almost everything. In translation or as a hybrid mixt - Tawada included 2 poems written in Japanese, where only the ending of plural in German and some connection words in German were added. Wrinting about grammar identity in the language of choice is an intellectual experiment during which the author chose to expose her fragilities through a language other than the mother tongue. While writing about grammar, nevertheless. 

I was expecting more language twists and innovation, but language, like identity and writing, is a permanent work-in-progress. Thus, I am looking forward to discover soon more writings in German and about German by Tawada.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Random Things Tours: Brazen by Julia Haart

 

Some book you read for the beauty of the prose, some for the novelty of the information, some by curiosity and some just because you may find pieces of yourself or of your friends´ self in it. For various reasons, more or less personal, I am interested in stories about people who took a courageous step ahead of their life and community and traditions to write their own story, particularly in relation with a religious environment. Happily, in the last years, a large variety of books on such topics were published, under the category of memoir, aimed at sharing a particular life story but also inspiring others able to do the same.

In the Jewish realm, such stories are filled under the category ´off the derech´ - leaving the Orthodox Judaism. Definitely, there are different degrees of Orthodoxy and different shades in between. For the reader/observer not familiar with the topic, things may look easy, but seen from inside, there are many colourful nuances between the white and the black. I had the chance elsewehere to extensively cover such topics and their reflection in memoirs - from the Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman to Abby Chava Stein or my favorite one, written by the talented Leah Vincent. 

There are stories hard to understand from outside. Stories about people who lost custody and even access to their children, stories of suicide and deep depression, of families broke up and women left completely alone. It is hard to understand the burden of breaking up with a lifestyle where you feel safe and protected, for finding yourself alone in the middle of world you hardly know. How does it feel to feel your hair free and your skin kissed by the summer wind. Sometimes one needs to get lost before finding oneself.

The latest testimony in the ever growing library of memoirs about leaving the religious fold is Julia Haart´s Brazen. After watching her Netflix reality show My Unorthodox Life I was not sure if I ever want to read her memoir. There were some parts which I´ve found gratuitously vulgar and the discussions about sex - although understandable after living for years in a world where the word is never mentioned - were rather exhibitionist. 

But happily for me, the memoir is more thoughtful and the voice is less strident. Definitely there are many elements missing completely from the movie, which do shed light better on Julia and her family story. Among others, for being born in the Soviet Union and the journey of her family to the free world, which included also increasing the degree of religiosity until becoming one of the many baal teshuva - a term referred to secular Jews increasing the degree of observance - families. The fact that she used to be a teacher in a religious school.

The book is a one person show with a strong message about her own experience as a woman unable to attain her full potential - either through the limited access to education or through the assigned second place in relation with a man who is supposed to learn, attain higher religious and personal success. 

Haart is a very strong woman; leaving behind a community and lifestyle and a relationship at 42 and starting a successful business without previous business experience is an outstanding achievement. As a first hand, first person account, the strength of the personal story is stronger than the literary qualities of the text. The text is also accessible to people without a deep knowledge about various religious groups and rituals, as it is centered on a woman voice telling her own individual story. A shameless and bold story about survival but also of (finally) finding her own place.

As much as such stories are important for our own empowerement as women, one should not forget that no one should be afraid to break free from a situation he or she considers limitative and oppressive. Religious estalishments everyone may not have anything to do with the religion they are obsessively pretend to rely on.

I am glad Brazen changed me my overall opinion about Haart. I am also glad that I am living in times when women may be lucky enough to start a new free life, no matter how late in life, and to brilliantly succeed, no matter in what domain of activity. Compared to many other OTD cases, Haart was luckier and she was also able to keep her children close. Her journey is worth mentioning, but one should never forget those who struggle and those who were lost. No one has the right to steal one´s life and there is no religious entitlement of doing so.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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