This link opens in a pop-up window
It is the summer of 1961 and the brutal Cold War between East and West …
Nothing earth-shattering but very well written and constructed, lively style which keeps you interested. Well done!
Cette sœur acceptera-t-elle le marché risqué qu'on lui propose pour faire évader son frère de …
THE BRAND NEW REBUS THRILLER FROM THE ICONIC NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. ONE OF THE MUST-READ …
Not sure if it's me becoming blasé or if the author was really desperately seeking inspiration, but...
How does one cope with the passing of time when forced to inactivity? How do …
Everyday life viewed from the perspective of a retired Berlin professor and that of African refugees who are constantly pushed from country to country after having entered Europe through Lampedusa. They can work in Italy (their port of entrance) but there is no work to be had there and cannot work in any other country. Their daily life, as well as their past, is constantly intertwined with that of said professor bringing to light the unfathomable difference a few papers can make on a life.
From the late Thomas Bernhard, arguably Austria's most influential novelist of the postwar period, and …
This author has been described, on a commercial alternative to Bookwyrm as, "the dentist drill of literature". I have to admit that the description fits quite well. Bernhardt is famous for his endless sentences that repeat what has already been said many times before just a little bit differently. And to add to the "pain", he never, but never says anything positive. He's Austrian and criticizes his country to such a point that most of his compatriots have reacted very negatively to his novels. Personally, I liked it. By the way, I read it in German and noticed that the English edition has 250 pages and the German one 651 pages. Am I to assume that the English editors believed that English readers will not be able to stomach so many pages of reflections on life?
I don't know. In my case, it induced in me some kind of comfortable …
This author has been described, on a commercial alternative to Bookwyrm as, "the dentist drill of literature". I have to admit that the description fits quite well. Bernhardt is famous for his endless sentences that repeat what has already been said many times before just a little bit differently. And to add to the "pain", he never, but never says anything positive. He's Austrian and criticizes his country to such a point that most of his compatriots have reacted very negatively to his novels. Personally, I liked it. By the way, I read it in German and noticed that the English edition has 250 pages and the German one 651 pages. Am I to assume that the English editors believed that English readers will not be able to stomach so many pages of reflections on life?
I don't know. In my case, it induced in me some kind of comfortable trance, there's something very musical to his writing, that kept me going and enjoying.
But as said, not for everyone. You've been warned!
The bards who stopped at the inn near the riverbank were forever being asked to …
Potentially very interesting subject: the building of a stone bridge in 14th century Balkans is almost a very simple chronicle with a few considerations about mythology and beliefs. This seems to me the opposite of the last book I read, which took a trivial anecdote and turned it into something magical, this one takes a very potentially rich subject and turns it into nothing.
A busy young writer struggling to cope with domestic chores, hires a housekeeper recommended by …
Challenge for any writer: create an incredibly interesting novel from an absolutely trivial anecdote. I fell like a child reading a fairy tale, enchanted from beginning to end! Most young readers will not understand how it is possible for someone, apparently ordinary, to take almost mythological proportions in the eyes of others. Not so long ago, specially in smaller communities this happened sometimes which makes this book perfectly credible for me. And again, enchanting.
New York Times bestseller Cory Doctorow's The Bezzle is a high stakes thriller where the …
I'm no expert but I have the feeling that what he describes of the American penal system is not totally fiction. Interesting book, forces you to look differently at the beauties of business and the availability of the law (everybody should know about the law but one doesn't get that konwledge for free).
KENSINGTON AVE, PHILADELPHIA:
THE FIRST PLACE YOU GO FOR DRUGS OR SEX. THE LAST PLACE …
This, apparently, belongs to the category of literary thrillers. The author has obviously made extensive research about the city and while this really plunges us decidedly in the atmosphere it also has the downside of often stalling the action with long, elaborate descriptions. I'm not against descriptions, but the author has to keep in mind that these should be generated by the internal needs of the work, not by any external goal to provide atmosphere.
Bill and Penelope are the lucky ones. Not only do they survive the Shark Flu …
More or less what you would expect from a end of times novel...
“Like the best noir practitioners, Murphy uses the mystery as scaffolding to assemble a world …
According to other sites most people didn't like this one very much. I, on the contrary loved it. The tone reminds one of Chandler's novels, although this one is taking place in NY around 2005. Also reminded me a lot of the movie Chinatown without the cynicism. The intrigue goes nowhere, we're talking long walks in various NY neighborhoods and meeting all kinds of interesting characteers, reminding me so much of the 2 years I worked there and did more or less the same. Incredible town, where you stop at any jazz joint and hear people jamming, for a handful of listeners the best music I've ever heard.
Edward is living in a world he can't afford and to which he doesn't belong. …
Literary thriller which is interested more in demonstrating a (often boring) mastery of English than anything else.
For example:"The fug of evening heat, deoxy genated by too much conversation, was now crackling above the chocolate and the olive oil parfaits."
This emphasis on language makes it tediously heavy with the intrigue starting well, getting lost in the middle to make a comeback for the last section.
Deux parachutistes tchécoslovaques envoyés par Londres sont chargés d’assassiner Reinhard Heydrich, chef de la Gestapo, …
L'intrigue principale devrait, et nous raconte, les événements qui ont conduit à l'assinat de Heydrich en 1942.
Laurent Binet inclut les détails importants mais c'est dommage de voir qu'il inclut également ses propres commentaires sur ce qu'il devrait inclure et ne pas inclure pour finalement inclure ou exclure, peu importe ce qu'il en a dit auparavant.
Je suppose que ses réflexions personnelles, toujours présentes, sont censées alléger quelque peu le ton du roman, mais dans mon cas, elles n'ont réussi qu'à rendre très irritante une histoire qui autrement m'aurait beaucoup intéressé.
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad about a narrated …
This is a 110 pages book of metaphors, long metaphors, short ones, tortured ones and blistered ones.
Disappointing, I've been to Africa in the 60s and it's a beautiful but sometimes really hard world that is certainly worth much more than obscure metaphors.
For those interested in gaining a more insightful vision I highly recommend Romain Gary's Les racines du ciel.
The novel's going nowhere but roughly it takes us on many character's journeys through their …
Reading the German translation of a not simple text. Just to give you an idea, tried translating the translation to English. Take it with a grain of salt:
"Marko observed her beloved face, it had barely any wrinkles. The past would only gradually be written into the white void, he thought. The area around the eyes will become darker, vision blurred by thick glasses. Yet, he was filled with quiet anticipation. The wisdom of dusk(Dämmerung). No fear of morning. He had said something to her about accompanying oneself with oneself. She reacted with a bon mot and did not further comment on the incidentally mentioned fact that not only his father but also his five-year-old son lived in Vienna. He had left empty-handed. They built their game there at the table in the Café Miró in Buda, each with their own combinations."
Hopefully this gives you an idea of the …
Reading the German translation of a not simple text. Just to give you an idea, tried translating the translation to English. Take it with a grain of salt:
"Marko observed her beloved face, it had barely any wrinkles. The past would only gradually be written into the white void, he thought. The area around the eyes will become darker, vision blurred by thick glasses. Yet, he was filled with quiet anticipation. The wisdom of dusk(Dämmerung). No fear of morning. He had said something to her about accompanying oneself with oneself. She reacted with a bon mot and did not further comment on the incidentally mentioned fact that not only his father but also his five-year-old son lived in Vienna. He had left empty-handed. They built their game there at the table in the Café Miró in Buda, each with their own combinations."
Hopefully this gives you an idea of the tone and taste of the prose.