Random Things Tours: The Wild Ones by Antonio Ramos Revillas translated by Claire Storey

We are used to associate Mexico either with street violence or with charming beaches with neverending parties. But either as tourists or as consumer of news, we rarely grasp the extent of the daily life of normal people in such places. Especially the ways in which their destinies are made of.

The Wild Ones by Mexican author Antonio Ramos Revillas, translated by Claire Storey - who also translated from Spanish Never Tell Anyone Your Name by Federico Ivaner - is a heartbreaking story of a family living in the hillsides of Monterrey, Mexico. One of the country´s largest agglomerations, with museums, restaurants and shopping malls, it is also home to disadvantaged families, marked only by their address. 

As their mother is arrested for a supposed theft, 15-year old Efrain and his two younger siblings are left alone, helpless. The help comes though from the most unexpected place, the local gang members, but it has a price tag.

Although placed in Mexico, with an obvious local feature, the story of this family resonates with unpriviledged families from all over the world. Without being pathetic or trying to switch to social activism, Revillas, admirably translated by Storey, gives voice to those unheard, but often criticized and stigmatised. A world of violence and drug traffic perpetuated by default, in an environment growing up in the absence of any solid support or a healthy social network. 

I appreciated the frank and open way in which the story is told, avoiding any romanticism or over-emotional compassionate tone. Thus, it allows the individual voices of the characters to be told, telling their story, as it is, not what some may expect to hear.

I will recommend this book to young adults and their parents, as it offers a side of life that explains behaviors and daily realities. A recommended read that I hope to have the chance one day to read in the original Spanish version.

Rating: 4.5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: Flowers from the Black Sea by A.B.Decker

 

I love good international thrillers, because it is where two of my passions (besides reading and writing) meets: international politics and travel. On the road there are so many chances that something spectacular happens: either spies are chasing each other or transborder crime is about to endanger the world peace. And some places are more prone to such encounters than the others. Like Turkey, or the region around the Black Sea, for instance. Culturally, the meeting of cultures and traditions is a blessing. For the police enforcement though, it is a curse, as this diversity may permeate the daily life in many challenging ways.

Flowers from the Black Sea, the second novel by A.B.Decker inspired those thoughts. As private investigator Matt Quillan is requested to do a friendly favour and localize some person in Turkey, he is trusted a flash drive by a stranger, shortly before being arrested by police officers. Thus, unwillingly, he found himself in the middle of a global situation that is about to get completely out of control. What can Quillan do in order to dismantle the net of dangers?

This fast paced thriller creates a world in itself, genuine in its dangerous settings and international imbroglio. Curious by nature, I couldn´t give up until the end of the story, and afterwards, took some time to think about some of the sequences of the book. Also, the local ambiance is recreated taking into account many individual details, which gives even more authenticity to the story.

Flowers from the Black Sea is a recommended read if you love the taste of a fast forward international intrigue. It just opened up my taste for even more such novels and hopefully by the end of the year I can dedicate even more time to such brain challenging lectures.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Blog Tour: The Island of Lies by O.Huldumann translated by Chris Ould

I have a fascination for mysterious writers, whose works only magnify the interest towards their private life, which is privately guarded from public eyes. Thomas Pynchon is my favorite example, of a writer about whom we hardly know anything - except that he once wrote a newsletter for the aviation industry. 

O.Huldumann is the Nordic and less prolific - based on the current information about his writings - equivalent. 

The above photo is probably the only one we may have of him. His writings do appear once in a while, hidden in remote troves. But it is hard to really explain what inspired him, how his life was like and his writing motivation. 

From the point of the literary history, he may have been the first to whom the exciting label of Nordic Noir applies. A literary pioneer too, it seems.

Recently translated by Chris Ould, The Island of Lies is the latest big book attributed to Huldumann, featuring citizen detective Arne Blöm. The first book published by Huldumann has him as the main character as well, but The Island of Lies can be easily read as a stand alone. Everything I´ve read about this author though only opened up my appetite for getting to know his writing more so most probably will read this first book as well.

Arne Blöm is sent to an island that may look serene and peaceful, but where horrible crimes are happening. It is the common idea of hidden intentions and the versatility of human character that if smartly explored can create the best thrillers. Huldumann is tracing intentions and duplicity, social games and deceit.

The Island of Lies is an exploration of the deep darkness of humans, a sickening take of humanity whose dramatism only diminished by the dark humour of the author. I´ve read the book fascinated about the timeless take and the plot turns.

If you are a lover of Nordic Noir, O. Huldumann is an author to add to the top of the list.

Noteworthy is also the special cover of this edition, a symbolic rendition of the terrible events accounted in the novel.

Rating: 5 stars

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

The Lawyer by A.A.Chaudhuri

´Everyone had a dark side. Everyone was capable of murder´.

There is no secret that I am a devout reader of everything A.A.Chaudhuri writes, and my regular reviews are a proof that I am telling the truth. Since 2022, I cannot wait her new thrillers, and I am never disappointed. This time, I was lucky enough to read two of her books within a very short timespam and, again, I felt only gratitude for the chance. 

Her latest, The Lawyer, follows a different writing pattern and plot construction upgrading the story at a different level. I´ve read it during the weekend almost abandoning any other activity delved deeply into the story. As usual, her books invite the reader to be part of the investigation but although I was halfway through giving the right answer, was far away from understanding the motives.

When a young promising woman is murdered at the offices of the company where she worked hard to promote, the Kramer/Craver detective team fears she is not the only one. And they are right, as more corpses are adding up to the investigation. Shockingly, all of the ladies did had a longer or shorter relationship with a professor with a temper, that is about to be considered the main suspect. Or maybe it was his wife, who was humiliated for so many years by his adventures? 

Until the end of the story, that will keep the reader in full suspense mood, even after the culprit(s) are identified, it is hard to estimate the reasons of the terrible murders. But a bit of human psyhology may warn us to always think about the consequence of our deeds. You never know how that person that you verbally or physically abused once will turn against you.

I loved the thrill and the many riddles that I was so close to solve at the same time with the detectives. I just added The Lawyer to one of my favorite thrillers of the year and I cannot wait A.A.Chaudhuri´s next book. I bet will never disappoint in terms of smart intrigues, fine legal framework and deep psychological insights.

Rating: 5 stars 

Turbulence by David Szalay

 

A circular collection of intertwined short stories taking place on a background of moving landscapes, Turbulence by David Szalay is one of the most pleasurable books I´ve read in the last months. 

If you are one of those persons, like me, who were blessed with so many travels in their life, you may know already the feeling of being privy of a different human exposure. All those communication with strangers in airplanes or waiting to commute from a place to another! The feeling of feeling at home in the world, although without a real home! Illusion or not, the feeling is real and travel exposes us to a different worldview.

The short stories from Turbulence are using this background for revealing short snaphots of life. The complete strangers we meet during our travels may leave a trace in our lives, may change us, may teach us a lesson. Each chapter has a title of an airport description, following characters from London to Qatar and Budapest. Wide world still small, as we may meet the male character from the first story at the end of the volume. 

Besides the philosophical reflection on humanity, the stories seize with a delicate touch very deep human feelings and expressions, such as fear, love, worry. When well written, like in the case of Turbulence, the short stories can be so powerful. I will not trade them to any 500+ novel, to be honest.

This book is a reminder that I need to read even more short stories. They have such an uplifting effect on my life and psyché. Also, I added Szalay on my list of writers whose books and stories I had to add to my list of favorite authors.

Rating: 5 stars

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

From all the books by Ottessa Moshfegh I´ve read until now, only Lapvona was missing. I am not sure if I´ve carefully read the book description but in general I am always careful when it comes to fantasy, any kind of it. I had it as a loan for a very long time and had to return it, thus my determination to finish it. 

It was a very difficult read. Not because of the complex ideas expressed, but because the plot is getting so busy with so many side stories that are just surviving autonomously, with no connection to a main story. Instead of ´difficult´ I may rather have to say, exhausting, but the wrong case of it.

Set in a far away land - some critiques suggested it may be Eastern Europe because people are wild and unable to control their feelings and affects and misplace basic feelings like maternity ? Have you heard about visigoths, by the way - called Lapvona, with inhabitants having children out of wedlocks, the book follows mostly the random turns of chance of Marek, a marked little boy, after killing his best friend out of envy during a walk in the mountains. Tip: the crime will actually promote him from the modest companion of an aggressive herdman to the substitute son of a pleasure-driven king.

Although the geography is doubtful, the pace and the characters may be remnants of Middle Ages tales, but upgraded at a very grotesque level. Sexual debauchery or various out-of-this world experiments with dreams and blindness healing (my favorite one is how Ina replaced her eyes with horse´s eyes, just like that, and she was able to see better, by the way).

The writing is not disappointing though, and this was the only ray of light guiding my difficult reading of this book for one full month. I am glad I´ve read it but I wished it was a different story. I am suppose that in this case I am just one of those nagging readers that are hard to be satisfied but I promise that I will be, even when reading fiction, if the story will really click. In this case, it just didn´t work out, no matter how much I´ve tried.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Théo et l'Enigme des Diamants by Didier Leterq

 

I haven´t reached yet the terrible teenage years, but it´s just around the corner. Books may help me prepare for the big adventure, but beyond that, I also like to enjoy the pleasure of reading books for an obviously different audience. When the book is written in French, the pleasure is even greater.

A relatively short novel built around a secret code that may lead to stolen diamonds Théo et l'enigme des diamants - Theo and the mystery of the diamonds, in my free translation; the book is part of a series featuring Théo, but as far as I know any of the books from the series were translated into English - is entertaining, adventurous and full of surprises.

Tracing some stolen diamonds, the teenager teams up with his grandfather, once involved in the anti-German cryptology enterprise from Bletchey Park. They are discovering mysterious letters placed in the most unexpected places, that they are able to decipher using a large variety of analogies, from mathematics to astronomy and Greek drama. An incentive for the young reader to focus more on learning, at least for the sake of solving riddles.

There are also other aspects touched upon, such as tensions with parents, school relationships and friendships. 

Although the ending is a big too ´soft´ for my taste, the book has its own charm and it´s definitely worth reading, including for the youngsters trying to improve their French level - A2 to B1 level.

The author has a professional background as scientist, but the Théo series launched him as a writer for the young audiences.

I am not sure I will continue with the series soon, but most probably will do it as soon as will have some time one day.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Le Vieil Incendie by Elisa Shua Dusapin

Elisa Shua Dusapin is one of the authors I love to read when I am trying to see the world differently, in a more deep, considerate way. The French-Korean author, currently based in Switzerland, has an unique direct way to explain feelings and situations in the most deep way. I´ve read her books both in the original French language, as well as in English translation and this feeling of dealing of a soul reader persisted.

My latest book by her, Le Vieil Incendie - The Old Blaze, in my own free translation - read in the original French version is written as a series of diary entry for one week in November. Agatha, who left her small helmet of Sarlat in France, is back after 15 years to settle the childhood house following the death of her father. There, her estranged aphasic sister Véra is waiting for her, and the two of them bond, superficially and for a very short time, during those times. 

Although they are supposed to leave the house for good, they will rebuild the old pigeon house destroyed long ago by a fire. 

The ties may be broken and each built up their own life and realities, but the days spent together is like a moment out of time. It´s exactly as may happen sometimes when we are back to places from the past, empty from the people that made them alive. Not everyone is having a blast from the past that may change he or she for ever. It is a honest yet very human journey.

Meanwhile, I am about to start another book by her soon - the only she published and haven´t read it yet -, and I am very curious where it will lead. Hope to be able to review it soon.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Lies&Weddings by Kevin Kwan

´Rich, entitled and clueless - it´s a lethal combination´.

The advantage of fighting hard a nasty flu that stayed with me way too long was spending more time reading big books that were waiting for too long my kind attention. Funily enough, my mind was not too much able to focus on literature but was rather keen to absorb a lot of nonfictional facts. Thus, I am feeling less guilty to ignore my academic pursues. 

One of my achievements during those sick days was finishing Kevin Kwan´s latest: Lies&Weddings. Kwan is an author I religiously followed in the last years, as I always find his hilarious explorations of class, money and power within Asian families inspiring for a certain social dynamic which is not always so transparent to outsiders but worth understanding for a better image of the social mobility within the Asian families on the continent and abroad.

The characters in Lies&Weddings are not always easy to cope with. They are either the poster of a despicable parvenue - like Lady Arabella who married into a noble family, unaware that her excesses bankrupted his family. And there is Thomas Tong ´a great doctor, and an even greater keeper of secrets´. All of them are running fast in a race of accumulating wealth, paying debts and keeping their secrets.

Arabella´s attempts to marry her children into European noble families, are faced by the realities of those families, carrying titles with no value and most importantly, no assets. This lady is a despicable character in her hunger to completely obliterate her modest origins and in her ridiculous matchmaking efforts. After bullying her neighbour Esther, who was living in the cottage nearby with her father, a friend of her husband, she completely changed her mind when it proved that Esther may be of a higher social status.

Lies&Weddings can be read in many ways - including as a financial advice, and some fashion tips as well, but honestly I had to search out some brand names - but besides the network of circumstances, there is also a good story ongoing, even though the change of situation may look and feel unlikely, But not everyone is privy to rich people habits, so maybe it really happens like this, It has a very international cast - always introduced by their education track record - and entertains, but sometimes you may just feel overwhelmed - and outraged - by the luxury and financial debacle.

I am not ashamed to confess that I really spend some time reading about royalties and other gossips about rich people, so this book is a literary rendition of such hobbies. If you are like me, you may enjoy this book as well.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Random Things Tours: The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by M.J. Robotham

 

After nine decades of intensive life, both as a writer and as a woman, Ruby Devereaux may be done with writing, but the publishing industry is still expecting her to honour her contractual obligations. When it comes to making money from someone else´s talent, there is no limit of greediness. With 20 years of experience in the field, Marina knows how to deal with complicated authors and demanding publishers, thus she will convince Ruby to write one more work; a story of her scandalous life in 12 relationships.

From New York to London, Saigon or Budapest, Ruby won many hearts and spent unique moments, navigating fame and men, more or less suited for her. But while she is coming at terms with her romantic past, Ruby is able to have a last say on the stories. She is the one who is setting the tone and sharing the content. A full life comes at end.

The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by M.J. Robotham is a slow paced insightful account of a life. The romantic tales, interrupted only by some current day intermezzos, are sometimes ironic, even hilarious, which make the voice of Ruby unique in the general setting of the story. I personally liked even more Marina, the smart publisher, for her trained mind for coping with any kind of challenges.

If you are looking for a book that will display in the front of your mind a long story of loves extended during almost a century, this book may offer you some good ideas with some insights into the unique life of a woman writer, a character in herself.

Rating: 3 stars

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

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli is a book I needed a long time to read and even longer time to think about it. It is also a book of many books into one: a chronicle of a marriage ending - as the own author´s - a book of loneliness, a book about catching memories, a book of the voiceless. The book was nominated for the Booker Prize 2019 and was the winner off the Dublin Literary Award in 2021.

A Mexican-American author based in the US currently, Luiselli herself is involved on behalf of children immigrants. Children of various ages, sent alone from Mexico, with a phone number sewed in their clothes hem, a number to be called upon arrival, upon survival. My son is much older than some of the children mentioned in the book, how would my sweet boy survive such an ordeal? It is a terrible thought, as terrible as the children from the Lord of the Flies, a book the protagonists may read to their children on their way to filling their working assignments. 

There are two main storytellers: the mother, working on a soundscape project, and the older son, who plans an escape with his half-sister on their own, up in the mountains, aimed at getting in touch with some of the lost children their mother is so much invested into that she is mostly not present when around her own children. 

Past and stories are what keep memories alive, and through sound, a sound archive, there are the emotional, contextual memories who are maintained. The wording of the book is beautiful, prose split in different small enchanting chapter, although not always necessarily part of the worded narrative.

´I suppose an archive gives you a kind of valley in which your thoughts can bounce back to you, transformed´.

´Stories are a way of substracting the future from the past, the only way of finding clarity in hindsight´.

There are many parts that at a close scrutiny weren´t maybe so enchanting, critically speaking. Although the story stops long before the separation took part, the fact is announced as a certitude and more than once it annoyed me, because sometimes, especially for few hundred pages novels, I don´t like predictable outcome. Also, the voice of the boy - recently 10 - was hardly recognizable from his mother´s, which was also not a pleasant experience.

What I also appreciates is the multimedia inserts, with photos, but only at the end of the book, although was feeling like it could have been used more boldly and extensively.

Lost Children Archive is an important book of our times and may open pathways to inspiration to keep exploring the topic, maybe also in a less personal key as part of a story of marital alienation. 

Rating: 3.5 stars