Random Things Tours: Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

 

Give me a book set during the Cold War, with secret wars and women special agents, and you have me quiet for the rest of the afternoon. My fascination with this historical period comes from my remote memories where I spent a little but hard to forget, time of my life, but also due to the omni presence of the mentalities, even more decades after the official end of the Cold War. The current war in Ukraine brought up ghosts of the past, reinventing a Russia aimed to belittle and subvert the democratic world, no matter the price.

Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak is a well researched work of historical fiction able to epitomize a whole era through the character of a fictional First Lady with a mysterious past. Set between Paris, Moscow, Washington DC and New York, it brings back the politically emotional zest of an era of confrontation reflected through the life and secrets of a woman, First Lady Lara Caine. Lara, born in the Soviet Union, with a past of model in Paris, hires a woman journalist to write her biography. But what exactly is she aiming at when requesting this service? What about trying to influence the narrative and offer the variant that convenes her the most, still keeping her secrets unscattered?

The writing is very engaging and hard to resist, with twists worth a good Cold War spy novel. It maintains a certain entertainment side, that may appeal the very young readers, not too much into intricated political intrigues, while keeping straight to facts of the serious historical fiction. 

Our American Friend shows how rich the Cold War related literature still is and how important it is to keep exploring it literarily, although from the very historical point of view, is long gone. Hope to discover more such books in the near future, because it is still so much left to be said and written about it, both as fiction and nonfiction.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley

 

The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley is a unique take on urban myths with a touch of thriller. 

Three women - Amy, Ila and Eve - who lost their families in tragical circumstances. Are they supposed to be next, according to urban legend of the rule of three, according to which one tragic event may engender another? 

Who believes in such stories nowadays? Who may want us make believe that such stories actually exist? What if the whole ideas is a hoax, a convenient supernatural excuse helping a criminal to hide? Not any kind of criminal, but a serial killer?

I may confess that sometimes, I felt like Sam Ripley is playing a bit with us, the readers, making us believe what we may not believe in normal circumstances. But this book does not have anything to do with normality, as it takes you out of your comfort zone, to bring you in a twilight zone where everyday logic does not apply.

The ambiance is tensed and the twists does not leave the reader time for properly thinking too much about what it could happen. The reader is out of control, but the pleasure of reading is also rewarding, from the very first page until the very end.

Usually, I do not fancy books belonging to the supernatural genre, but The Rule of Three stands up due to the good writing and the well mixed combination of horror, thriller and supernatural. The cover also deserves an additional appreciation, a very good visual rendition of the overwhelming ambiance of the book.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Cover Reveal: The Puppet Maker by Jenny O´Brien

 

It´s no secret how much I appreciate a good, suggestive cover and often, my library and bookstore choices are inspired first by the cover, and second by the blurb and eventual recommendations. A book whose cover is carefully designed sends always a good message to the reader. 

Today, I have the pleasure to be part of an exquisite cover reveal of a crime and mystery thriller, The Puppet Maker by Irish author Jenny O´Brien. Dublin-born author, she is a Guernsey-based writer. The book that is expected to be published mid-October, is special for more than one reason: it features wheelchair bounded detective Alana whose mission is to find out what happened with the mother of a two-year old girl that suddenly appeared in the precincts of the police station, with a crumpled piece of paper where the mother warns to not be searched after. 

The cover features a wheelchair women, back on us, meditatively looking to an opening horizon. The lettering of the title and the text do match in a very dramatic, thrilling way, revealing hopes, fears and expectations. 

 Both the short description of the book and the cover look entincing enough to include the book on my TBR for the end of the year. I bet it´s really worth it.

Special note to Rachel´s Random Resources for the opportunity of being part of this online event. The opinions are, as usual, my own.

Burmese Memories

Burma is rarely mentioned in the literary, book-related context, and we may know almost nothing about their non-political elites, due to a long line of reasons. Thus, when it happens to find some information and books about this country, I simply cannot resist the temptation to delve into the pages, hungry to know more.

Golden Parasol, A Daughter´s Memoirof Burma by Wendy Law-Yone is the perfect introduction into the last century of Burmese history. Her father, Edward Michael Law-Yone leaderd The Nation, Burma´s most influential English language newspaper and later on, after his exile, was a predominant figure in the exile government. 

One of the most important part of the book features political and international events that influenced the fate of the country, through characters and personalities that were known to her through his father. Political intrigues and non-political motivations to attack political adversaries are displayed into an extensive game of lights and shadows. 

But equally important is the way in which Wendy Law-Yone is reconstructing personal stories, through her own personal experiences, as well as extensive archive research and visits back to the old country. 

Thus, the book can be used both as a source of information about Burma, but also as an example of memoir writing and researching. My only frustration was that it was sometimes too cold for a memoir, with a clear exposure of facts in the detriment of the choice of a personal style. However, the ending was a skillful choice, that may beat by far many endings of memoirs I´ve read before.

Golden Parasol made me very curious to explore more about Burma, including through books, but I am even more interested in finding out more about the language and the unique local alphabet.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Iphigenia in Forest Hills

I am not reading too much true crime books, but once in a while it´s an useful exercise to get to know how really - not fictionally - real people may react and why. (Hint: it may alter any optimistic thoughts about beautiful human nature).

The case of Mazoltuv Borukhova, accused and convincted of ordering the murder of her husband due to a custody dispute over their daughter was interesting for me for more than one reason, as it featured the relatively remote and unique community of Bukharan Jews. What can determine a beautiful, educated and religious young woman to order the killing in cold blood of her handsome, doctor ex, in the presence of their daughter?

Janet Malcolm was the journalist who followed the trial and based on her direct contact with the parts involved and the legal proceedings wrote a book, Iphigenia in Forest Hills, about the whole case. I may confess that I was more than disappointed in the book as it does focus way too much on reproducing various declarations and court proceedings, but without necessarily going too much beyond it. I do not mean to turn into a judge and take parts, but at least to offer an well written, balanced account, going a little bit, if possible, beyond a collage of facts and figures. Trying to really understand the case, through the personal biographies and stories of all those involved, may shed light into the story itself.

Instead, the reader was offered a hefty collection of details, not few of them completely irrelevant, in need of high editing and copywriting. At a great extent it´s the extreme cartoonish description of objective journalism, because it shows how important the role of a good and well documented writer is for convening a story, especially of true crime, to the public.

Rating: 2 stars

Free by Lea Ypi

Within the former Eastern bloc, there were two particular dictatorships - ´of the people´ - that were frustratingly absurd: one was Ceaușescu´s (the illiterate dictator and his wife) Romania; the other one was Albania. But as Lea Ypi mentioned at the end of her coming of age memoir Free ´people never make history under circumstances they choose´.

Enver Hoxha, the Albanian dictator, ruled for four decades and his natural death slowly triggered changes with a terrific impact in the whole region - from the Balkans to Italy, where desperate Albanians who lost all their savings and hopes tried to escape by overcrowded boats. As a child experiencing the transition through her own family story and histories, Ypi took note of the general trends and world events - in a similar manner with Ernaux in The Years, letting the personal to interfer naturally with the global -  while observing the changes within her familiar realm: people disappearing, the secret language of returning from prison terms, the rewritten biographies (´Biographies were carefully separated into good and bad, better or worse, clean or stained, relevant or irrelevant, transparent or confusing, suspicious or trustworthy, those that needed to be remembered and those that needed to be forgotten´). 

The intensity of the political and personal times is reproduced through the voice of a young girl trying to make sense of the changes, while following her path of her own personal, intimate changes. It doesn´t try to be philosophical and reflect on things past, but it does maintain its authentic voice through a simple account of a complex reality. Words, like ´free´ the title of the memoir, are defined and re-defined by their contextual use. Or the Marxism, ideologized often, rarely studied and understood.

For the political scientist curious and anyone interested in post-communist memoirs, Free by Lea Ypi is a reference lecture for both the personal and general take. A free testimony in her own words.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Book Review: Maame by Jessica George

 

Madeleine - or Maame, meaning in the Twi dialect, ´the ´responsible one´ - wants a fresh start, where instead of being the one in charge with her family, she can enjoy her own life. Mid-20s, she set up a list of things she is looking forward to, among which, leaving her family house, having a relationship and trying those things that young people all over the world would love to try at least once. 

Set in London, with characters representing the Ghanaian community, Maame the bestseller debut novel of Jessica George, herself of Ghanaian origin, is considered one of the hottest debuts of 2023. As I love to be trend follower sometimes, I wanted to give it a try and although I am proud of resisting until the end of the book, it was only for laziness. I was too lazy to give up the book and continue with something different, although felt not only the this book is not for me, but it´s rather a draft than a finished book.

A bookish person, aiming at a career in publishing, she is obsessively searching on all the possible and impossible Google topics - ´Does a third date mean sex?´ - from real life she happens to stumble upon. A kind of optimist person, she is nevertheless reacting in very clumsy and emotionless ways in situations that may require a kind of human reaction, like when she discovers the love story of her mother who shortly after her father died is looking for solace in the arms of the man that she always loved. 

Maame belongs to the recent category of women characters assigned awkward social skills, cartoonish represented but fully unreletable as it may be impossible to survive in real life more than few minutes. 
She is made of fragments of fancy glass pieces - like her love for publishing, and books, and woman-in-the making - that may be appealing separately, but once glued together they may simply look like a hectic mosaique of unfulfilled motives.

I wish I love this much appreciated sold for seven figures book, but unfortunately it haven´t made into my list of favorites. 

Rating: 2.5 stars 

Acquiring Atomic Habits

My life is a long journey of acquring the best tools to make my life better and easier and more comfortable. Long before I realized how important is to get the trauma out of my DNA and reduce - at least - the negative impact of wars and pogroms and inter-generational traumas, I struggled to get a life friendlier environment for my small family, that excludes being always on survival mood. I just wanted to be alive without the need to live every second of my life perfectly tensed, ready to react to an unfriendly, aggressive environment. I had a luxury that my family haven´t, my parents - of blessed memory - haven´t. But I want to live differently and the price is my life. Worth it...

Part of my self- and induced therapy I follow for almost two decades is to create those small habits that are less or toxic-free, searching for a better health, happier people around me and a daily schedule that helps me to thrive, rather than being at the service of the work force or other people´s moods. Taking care of my health and my wellbeing, being able to say ´no´ and allowing myself to take a breath. Having time for myself without feeling I am an egoistic monster. Learning to put myself - and everything that means - first and enjoying it.

The international best-seller Atomic Habits by James Clear was a reminder of the long journey I went through, and of how long still stays ahead of me. Rationally dismissing any big leaps and radical changes from one day to another, it rather recommends working according to a plan, one step at a time.

The saying goes that one needs 30 days to build a habit, but Clear leaves the numbers out of discussion. In fact, it moves the center of decision on such issues completely on the person, allowing to create instead effective habits, based on a plan, slow rituals and identity projections. What is really important is to place the habit within a larger transformation of yourself. What is the person you want to change into? What is your new, healthier and better you those habits are practiced by? How indulgent and unforgiven should you be with yourself and how often, when your habits plans are not working accordingly?

Definitely, this book does not promise a cure-all for all your bad habits, but may help you start the journey towards more self-love and a healthier - mentally and physically - life.

Rating: 4 stars

More Short Stories from African Countries

On my way to discover more talented voices from the African countries, this weekend I explored a couple of inspiring fiction and nonfiction stories published by the Cameroon-based literary magazine Bakwa. 

The topics of the magazines were Family Politricks and Travel Stories, with inspiredly illustrated covers. The authors included are originally from Cameroon, Namibia, Nigeria or Guinea-Bissau, but such national identifications are rather the result of colonialist random border politics. Bilingual - French and English - those stories do display a diversity of cultural resources and inspiration.

The family situations described in Family Politricks are nothing but bearable. There are stories - mostly fiction - of sexual abuse and neglect - many surrounded by a hollow of black magic. It is an extraordinary reminder of how diverse the sources of inspiration could be, based on a specific cultural background.

The issue dedicated to travel, Taxi Drivers Who Drive Us Nowhere and other Travel Stories was my favorite so far, also due to the preponderance of the nonfiction stories. Travel here is more than a pretext to reflect on borders, local corruption and the tragic condition of a traveller from one African country to another. 

The two volumes, although including works on different value, do share valuable information filtered through the inspired pen of authors that I hope to hear more about soon.

Short Stories Book Review: Sweetlust by Asja Bakić, translated by Jennifer Zoble

 

Sweetlust, the latest collection of short stories by Croatia-based bosnian writer and translator Asja Bakić, translated by Jennifer Zoble, forces the limits of imagination. Oniric-like feminist stories, mostly set in dystopian contexts, ex- Yugoslavia-inspired, the stories are breaking codes and reimagining classical stories - mythological or just belonging to the universal literary heritage, like The Sorrows of Young Werther - in a completely new, erotic re-writing. 

Elements of old Balkan fairy tales meet AI and coding, a reminder that the author has the full freedom to imagine and re-imagine whatever is considered fictional enough to be transformed into a story. It is not the audience, it is not the canon, it is not the literary expectations. Pure joy of writing what serves your inspiration. An infinite bookish lust.

Rating: 4 stars

The Best of Days

Born in Iran in 1971 and refugiated with her family to Paris since 1974, psychologist Yassaman Montazami pays a moving tribute to her late father, in the debut autobiographical novel Le Meilleur des Jours - The best of days. When her father was born, in a family of rich middle class Iranians - his mother was Rosa Montazami, a famous cookbook author whose books keep being a bestseller - he had almost no chances to survive, but he did and made his mother the happies in the world, therefore his name Behrouz, which in Persian means the best of days, to remember the moment of him getting back on the life path.

A Marxist whose never finished PhD thesis ended up gathering dust, her father was a lover of life, helping practically everyone, in the wrong relationship, a lover of pranks and jokes. Both him and his wife never practically worked, being helped financially by his generous mother. 

Montazam is a storyteller, putting the words on paper against forgetfulness. It is both a moving father-daughter memoir, with fragments of memories of the grandomany during the Shah time and political resistance. before and during the mullahs. 

The merit of such memoirs is to offer voice to the diverse voices of a country made speechless by the religious fanatism. One day, hopefully soon, those voices will be hear again, in their chaotic diversity. Until then, we have the books, many of them.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Book Review: Yellowface by R.F.Kuang

Because I rarely read fantasy books those days, I haven´t read anything by Rebecca F. Kuang until Yellowface. But as the topic has to do with the publishing industry, the one and only intensive American publishing industry, a topic I am recently interested in, I devoured the book in one relaxed weekend sitting.

The irony is so smart that convinces even the most restrained and critical reader - to abandon all reserves and laugh incontrolably. Athena, the cultish writer of Asian origin, dies while chocking to pandan pancakes. June, her buddy and sometimes companion, white mediocre writer June, happens to be at her home upon the tragic moment and leaves with at least two of her notebooks. She nonchalantly uses the material from those notebooks, although relatively out of her research and topic league, and got to leave the life of success. She turns into a bestseller writer overnight but also attracts the negative attention and suspicion. Victim of her own greediness, she has no morals and no ethics. The excuse of her despicable acts is that she wanted to see how does it feel to be successful. The one who will bring an end to her fame will have the same aim.

Practically everyone casted in Yellowface is despicable. The ideas of the politically correct publishing look through a magnifying glass as a grotesque show of notingness. Writing books does not have anything to do with the pleasure of writing. Being a writer is a competition for the best - and many digits contract, but no substance.

In Yellowface, the kings and queens of publishing are whole naked. They know it themselves as well, but it´s too late to stop them from their desperate run for fame. 

The story enfolds in a mysterious, cinematic way, although sometimes the way in which the story is built looks artificious, like when the story and the characters should conform to some idea planted by the author. The attitude towards the characters may be ambigous, as the online bullying and desperate competition within the publishing industry may raise some sympathy for the characters, especially June.

Overall though, Yellowface spreads a lot of salt on the wounds of publishing and although often books on those topics are slightly redundand, there are truth worth telling. Personally, I am grateful that R.F.Kuang approached this topic because otherwise I would have not discover her writing. I am tempted to focus more on fantasy in the near future, and if it will really happen, she will be one of the first authors to start with.

Rating: 3.5 stars

When Simone de Beauvoir Visited America

In 1947, shortly after the end of the WWII, Simone de Beauvoir spent four months travelling all over the US, meeting French and American intellectuals and randomly public speaking at conferences, but mostly discovering America and particularly Americans in their natural habitat. 

L´Amérique au jour le jour is a relatively less known and less appreciated book of her, less philosophical but nevetheless a sharp collection of memories about her time in the USA, where she had the chance to go not only in big cities like New York or Washington DC, but also discovering the everyday life and passions of the simple Americans. 

Very often, she refers to movie impressions about various habits and cities, that she is confronting through her journey when meeting new people and gathering new impressions. She kept going to see movies - after all, at the time, there were no Netflix or other big TV chains to fill your evenings after strolling in the big cities - but the realities taking shape are more clear and critically readable now. 

She keps her critical take when it comes to the everyday social realities in the USA, as poverty and racial discrimination. Her visit to the Soviet Union, the opponent shaping most of the US politics at the time of her visit, will occur only in 1965, when she will start a similar journey, alongside with Sartre, starting from the present day Lithuania.

Her observations also touch upon the different educational background and intellectual engagement in the USA, respectively France and Europe in general. The universities in the USA, it seems for Beauvoir, aren´t preparing ´l´esprit´ of the people, meaning among others a more focus on practicalities and professional training instead of the preparation to take critically the world.

Her style is very observant and careful to details, but also reveals a side of her personality enjoying to delve into the sound of jazz and tasting with pleasure the drink of the ´New World´, the flavourfull whiskey. The more I discover de Beauvoir, the more I realize how much is still to learn about her, particularly her style, interests and unique empathic and curious writing style. 

Rating: 5 stars

Book Review: Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein

A novel about a novelist in search for his real life characters, the debut novel by Andrew Lipstein Last Resort has humorous twists and intelligent conversations. 

A successful novel about a man´s holiday romance in Greece with a woman terminally ill hits bestseller lists and it seems to be inspired by a real story. A real story that was told to the author who submitted the manuscript by his another writer friend. Ending up in a legal imbroglio, that will end up with a switch between the author´s name to appear on the cover, it seems to have more to this, as it proves that the story itself was far from being accurate.

With subtle ironies about the publishing industry and it´s fake hall of fame, it also put into question the ways in which we are looking and finding inspiration, at what extent we are looking for reality into fiction and how characters themselves may want to be fred by the weight of fictionality.

The characters of the book themselves are relatable and most importantly, very thoughtful about their fate and their literary realities. The book can be a great read to someone interested and even in love with topics about writers and the publishing industry.

Personally, I´ve found the topic interesting, but the story is draining sometimes, with the character hurrying up every time to move in another state and doing the same things over and over again - especially in relationship with his women (real or imaginary). The book makes a difference as it features male authors, and not the usual female authors looking to forget about themselves, writing one line at a time and never making it into the bestseller. It´s a different, unique twists, refreshing for the inventory of books approaching this topic. 

Rating: 3.5 stars