tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82648731417472896072024-02-07T10:32:03.296+02:00SNOW FEATHERSAllyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.comBlogger466125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-44691601886116582322019-01-26T14:00:00.000+02:002019-01-27T15:55:43.722+02:00I have a lot of "Confessions" to make... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pp64mcqrfwYVTVBfIIrUwFbwYXqpB8I1pobq0aI4pBrBUWilWJKpXW22OvwqHubOqFbQK55YppHITfJ-tlU3QcjSG024a6LUxu7ne2BA5nUuiRtTMB4g329RmeAZkIylPD50vQz8Xqlw/s1600/confessions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pp64mcqrfwYVTVBfIIrUwFbwYXqpB8I1pobq0aI4pBrBUWilWJKpXW22OvwqHubOqFbQK55YppHITfJ-tlU3QcjSG024a6LUxu7ne2BA5nUuiRtTMB4g329RmeAZkIylPD50vQz8Xqlw/s400/confessions.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“That's all I really wanted," he said. "Just somebody to notice me.”</span></b></div>
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January is about to end and I can proudly say I have read three books by Japanese writers, having loved them to bits. The first (and probably the best of the three) was Kanae Minato's "Confessions", or should I say... "a teacher's revenge..."? </div>
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"Confessions" was published in 2008 to immediate acclaim, and a year later it was adapted into a movie, which also won a bunch of awards, and was selected as Japan's entry for best foreign language film for the 2010 Oscars. The book is quite an unsettling one, bordering the evil and it certainly proves that experience counts a lot when it comes to writing about things you know first-hand, in this case, the relationship between teachers and students and the one that develops among the students in a class. Before she became a bestselling novelist, Kanae Minato was a Japanese home economics teacher and housewife, and this fact clearly helps the novel. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“But doing something good or remarkable isn't easy. It's much easier to condemn people who do the wrong thing than it is to do the right thing yourself.” </span></b></div>
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The protagonist is Yuko Moriguchi, a single mother and a middle-school science teacher whose four year old daughter drowns in the school’s pool. Or was she drowned by some evil student? The story starts with her confessing that she knows who killed her daughter, and it is one of her students, but she takes her time to unveil the cold-blooded murderer and tell us how she got even... or what she will do next. We read six confessions from five characters, all speaking in the first person, in order to reach the end and discover if anybody is to be punished. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Our values are determined by the environment we grow up in; and we learn to judge other people based on a standard that’s set for us by the first person we come in contact with—which in most cases is our mother.” </span></b></div>
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The moral problem that the book raises is the fact that in Japan, the legal age of criminal responsibility is 14, and the two students involved in the murder are 13, so Yuko takes matters in her own hands, thinking they will get away with it quite easily while she will not feel her daughter’s death is fully avenged. What can really scare us, the readers, is the fact that Yuko’s plot for revenge may look quite justified, and up till the end, it is quite hard to sympathize with the students, so the major question unfolds: can we feel entitled to avenge someone we love, knowing he or she will not be brutally punished by society? </div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Dysfunctional love, dysfunctional discipline, dysfunctional education, dysfunctional human relations. At first, everybody wonders how something like that could happen to such a nice family; but when you poke around a bit the dysfunction comes out, and then you see that it was bound to happen, that it was only a matter of time.” </span></b></div>
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In Minato’s novel, we discover sociopaths longing for attention, unhappy, damaged children, bullies and manipulators and it is quite difficult to sympathize with any of them, even if we may consider them vulnerable children. Yuko, the teacher, crosses a lot of moral boundaries in her angry attempt to punish them for their horrendous deed, with actions that seem both nauseating and justifiable in the circumstances. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I wanted to climb out of the swamp and run away somewhere. Somewhere where nobody knows me. Somewhere where I could start all over from the beginning.” </span></b></div>
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In a superficially ordered world, that of a Japanese middle school class, there are dark forces lurking behind innocent eyes and it is up to us to decide what type of action we should take – if any – to ensure that things will follow a normal path. Should we believe in “deus ex machina”, or should we take matters in our own hands? I am sure the answer we will find will certainly vary… </div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Weak people find even weaker people to be their victims. And the victimized often feel that they have only two choices: put up with the pain or end their suffering in death. But they're wrong. The world you live in is much bigger than that. If the place in which you find yourself is too painful, I say you should be free to seek another, less painful place of refuge. There is no shame in seeking a safe place. I want you to believe that somewhere in this wide world there is a place for you, a safe haven.” </span></b></div>
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Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-55579236786121446922019-01-09T10:30:00.000+02:002019-01-11T17:31:04.597+02:00My Goal This Year :) <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeCkpr1Ssk4" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-23838159146285466842019-01-03T10:00:00.000+02:002019-01-03T18:27:08.440+02:00New Year, Old (but Great) Challenges <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Almost a year has passed since our last encounter. All I can say is that a break, be it short or long, can help you realise what is important in one's life. Reading books and talking about them - from time to time - is something I'm set not to give up. </span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And, what better way to begin the new year than by tackling <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/2018/12/29/japanese-literature-challenge-12/" target="_blank">Dolce Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge</a>? It's her 12th year hosting it and I am sure I've joined about six or seven of them... This year, though, the challenge only lasts for three months, from January to March, so I have decided to read three books by Japanese writers, one of which is Haruki Murakami's latest. </span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you are interested in reading Japanese literature, then now is the right time to start!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;">HAPPY READING! </span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-17792999792553951692018-01-22T18:00:00.000+02:002018-01-23T21:20:48.058+02:00IT'S TIME <iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TjTkIplr0Ik?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-20307970229132864292018-01-02T11:00:00.000+02:002018-01-02T15:44:10.379+02:00The Road towards the WORD <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">One of the reasons why we read is
generated </span>by the desire to escape a crazy world, a world in which
we sometimes do not find ourselves. We read to save ourselves. This is also the
case of the British writer <b>Matt Haig</b>, born in 1975 in Sheffield and appreciated
more and more by his readers for the honesty with which he writes about subjects
that are not at all easy to tackle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: #a2c4c9; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Making his debut as a writer for children and
teens – some of his books have been published at Nemira – few people knew, up
until the publication of his book<b> “Reasons to stay alive”</b> in 2015 that Matt
Haig faced a long period of depression while he was 24 years old, a period
during which, because of his panic attacks, even the simplest activities were
no longer possible. In an interview for Hay Festival given in May 2015 Haig speaks
about the only way to cope with this existential pain: reading the books of his
childhood such as “The Hobbit”, “Winnie the Pooh” or “The Catcher in the Rye”
as an escape from the cruel reality into a childhood time when everything was
perfect and afterwards, going back to reality by writing down what he felt. Step
by step, reading and writing became ways of overcoming his illness and learning
to live again, escaping his own mind simply to discover that rebuilding his
reality is not such a complex process. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Reading and writing have become a therapy
for Matt Haig, just as in the case of a famous American writer, Ernest
Hemingway who used to say that <b><i>“there is no </i></b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>friend as
loyal as a book”</i></b> and his take on writing was a very definite one: </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really
happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that
happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the
ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather
was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a
writer.” </b></i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>"The words have healed my mind”</i></b> says
Matt Haig, looking at books as one of the essential reasons to stay alive
because they keep us connected to the rest of humanity while helping us to
rediscover ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Words lead to a story and the story
represents, in its simplest form, a change, either physical or mental. The stories
we read convince us of the fact that inevitably things change and just like
that we can do it, too, we can leave the state we are in with the help of the
books we read. For a writer, the road from reading to writing is a more intense
one, but with higher chances of finding yourself once more. We read to escape
but we find ourselves in this process, better, wiser, in an improved version of
ourselves, mentally and spiritually. </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-13424820061851255712017-10-29T16:00:00.000+02:002017-10-29T16:16:19.832+02:00Immortality, Revenge and a Ghost <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>"Hamlet"</b> is, in my opinion, Shakespeare’s most complex play, with so many layers that
can be tackled and even more interpretations of what the characters have done
or are about to do, not to mention what Shakespeare might have implied and what
the background and the cultural context actually were centuries ago.</span></div>
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<b>"Hamlet"</b> is, no doubt, a play about death and revenge. Killing Claudius seems easy once
there is evidence of what he has done, but when evidence comes in the shape of
a ghost, things turn to be more complicated than expected, especially in a time
when the trend was to distance from superstitious imaginary and embrace humanism.
In my opinion, there are many perspectives on death in the play, depending on
our prior knowledge and the way we would like to understand and decompose it.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"> <o:p></o:p></span>If one is
familiar with the Buddhist teachings, then the lines in Act 1, scene 2 (72-73)
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“all that lives must die, / passing through nature to eternity”</span></b> is not at all
strange. In the same scene, Hamlet wishes <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“that this too too solid flesh would
melt,/ and resolve itself into a dew!”</span></b>(129-130). In this respect, Buddhists are
quite aware that we will return to nature when we end our time on Earth because
we are one with it. Through karma and eventual enlightenment one can escape
samsara and achieve the end of suffering, which is Nirvana. Isn’t Hamlet trying
to escape his faith by not committing any murder and not avenging his father’s
death, but the odds are against him? Doesn’t he wish for a more gentle task? <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite/
that ever I was born to set it right!”</b></span>(I.5 190-191)</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">In the
final scene of the play, before Hamlet dies, he says<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“there is a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow.”</span> </b>(211). He seems to have resigned himself
with what had happened mainly because he knows he would be taken care of by God
or the supreme force governing all creatures. This return to the original,
natural condition of the human mind, without any worry or struggle, letting it
all be is defined as enlightenment or Satori in Buddhism and, unlike animals,
which are always in this condition, we have lost this condition and made things
and life more complicated. In order to regain this state, we need to reach true
inner peace, <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“… the rest is silence.”</span></b> (350) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-18163960428131159772017-08-16T05:00:00.000+03:002017-08-16T05:00:14.161+03:00Happy Birthday, Rubia! :) <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rx0mYN32Kps?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-16897937900756007502017-08-11T14:00:00.000+03:002017-08-15T10:29:13.252+03:007 reasons to watch "Will"<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Fight for what you believe in!"</span></b><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">1. "Will" is a 2017 show that no one with an interest in the life of the famous playwright William Shakespeare should miss.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">2. The young (and hot) Will's life is presented before he became famous, after he arrives in London eager to make a name for himself.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">3. If you loved the Oscar winning film "Shakespeare in Love" just imagine this is a better version of the movie, with better costumes, soundtrack and more intriguing facts.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">4. The TV show adds more characters in Will's life and presents his artistic struggles better than any other show or movie about the Bard's life.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">5. It is a fun, vivid show, full of punk rock music and irony, in which Will is no longer a dusty old man, but a cool yet naive young man struggling to become the one and only Shakespeare.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">6. Marlowe, Shakespeare's supposed rival, is present as well, but not as a mere rival, he is Will's admirer, too and this adds to the main character's depth.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i>
<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">7. The show also tackles an unexpected idea: Will is a practicing Catholic, which was illegal in England at that time, and this fact increases the danger in which he may find himself while in London. </span></b></i><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mVz5Jv7ZbPc?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-48502733349617568782017-07-14T07:00:00.000+03:002017-07-14T12:15:26.768+03:00Vive la France! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrfXm3k8hIwKms8saR_sk0ME3o6JqCMa2P7LlcGu1SOT3RffjlwFDdvi1DNmFYDJDqTyyv3fCpPz_KcsaReMF_-J55foe9GCoLtt84ETxt_Gw-PtmHTXNLq9DGTVc5ob5rXs-cChaGofv/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrfXm3k8hIwKms8saR_sk0ME3o6JqCMa2P7LlcGu1SOT3RffjlwFDdvi1DNmFYDJDqTyyv3fCpPz_KcsaReMF_-J55foe9GCoLtt84ETxt_Gw-PtmHTXNLq9DGTVc5ob5rXs-cChaGofv/s400/PicMonkey+Collage3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It's the 14th of July and I cannot but celebrate, with a few French poems, Bastille Day. Yesterday I saw the common press conference of Macron and Trump on CNN and I can truly say I wish we also had such an intelligent president, "un vrai diplomate", unlike the joker next to him.<br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">“</span><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">La poésie est mémoire, mémoire de l'intensité perdue.</span><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">”</span></span></h4>
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Now, while the parade is taking place on the Champs Elysees, I would like to celebrate this day with some French poems by a writer that, up until last year, when he passed away at the age of 93, was considered "the greatest French living poet" and whose poems have been studied in the last decades by French high school students. His name is <b>YVES BONNEFOY </b>(1923 - 2016) and he was not only a poet but also an impressive essayist, a very good translator of Shakespeare's work, a professor at "College de France", an art historian and an exceptional critic.<br />
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Here is the first part of one of his beautiful poems, <b>"Summer night"</b>:<br />
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<b><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Nuit d'</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">é</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">t</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">é</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;"> </span></b></h4>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Il me semble, ce soir,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Que le ciel étoile, s'élargissant,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Se rapproche de nous ; et que la nuit,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Derrière tant de feux, est moins obscure.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Et le feuillage aussi brille sous le feuillage. </span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Le vert, et l'orangé des fruits mûrs, s'est accru, </span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Lampe d'un ange proche ; un battement </span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">De lumière cachée prend l'arbre universel.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Il me semble, ce soir.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">Que nous sommes entrés dans le jardin, dont l'ange</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial"; text-align: -webkit-center;">A refermé les portes sans retour.</span></h4>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-89998633841469577422017-07-04T07:30:00.000+03:002017-07-04T07:30:18.791+03:00We Read to Become Happier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US">We read for
different reasons. We read because we “must”, to find out information, out of
curiosity, but I would like to believe that a lot of those who read do it for
the wellness that reading offers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A few
months ago, while studying for the “Literature and Mental Health” course, run
by Warwick Business School together with ReLit (The Bibliotherapy Foundation),
I discovered an article on <b>bibliotherapy</b>, “Books do furnish the mind: the art
and science of bibliotherapy”, written in 2016 by two medical consultants,
Jonathan Bate and Andrew Schuman, both Oxford professors, that made me
understand, once again, the importance of reading for our mental and emotional
wellbeing.</span></div>
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The short
article is extremely comprehensive and it presents the evolution of the term <b>“bibliotherapy”</b>.
This term is more than 100 years old and it was first used in 1916 by the American
essayist Samuel McChord Crothers. In his essay he takes an interview to his
imaginary friend who is a bibliotherapist at the “Tired Businessmen Institute”
and where he carefully prescribes his patients books that can help them get rid
of depression or unemployment. This imaginary bibliotherapist analyses the
therapeutic value of the books he prescribes for each and every case in order
to notice their positive results. </div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The miraculous
power of books dates back a few millennia, even if at that time it was not
named <b>“bibliotherapy”</b>. According to the Greek historian Siculus, above the
entrance to the sacred library of pharaoh Ramses II it was written “the place
where the soul is healed”, and the Renaissance man Michel de Montaigne stated
that there are three ways to cure the most terrible mental illness –
loneliness: to have a lover, to have friends, to read books, but out of the
three options, the one that can last all life is the presence of books. The relation
with the books that we know and adore creates a unique state, beneficial and
repeatable with every reading. Have you ever wondered why we can sometimes go
back to rereading certain books or why a certain poem touches and takes us to a
world where everything seems easier, better? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In the 19<sup>th</sup>
century, the philosopher John Stuart Mill affirmed in his autobiography that
William Wordsworth’s poetry cured him of depression; in 2017, his poetry is
once again remembered in connection with a difficult loss and the way in which
these poems can help you get over the pain you feel because Wordsworth himself
suffered these terrible losses: two of his children died before having turned
eight. In fact, poems are the “pills” to be administered most efficiently due
to their short, yet memorable form. It is more practical to recommend a poem or
an anthology of poems than a long novel which demands time and concentration,
but what counts most is the impact that the literacy work, be it a poem or a
Victorian novel has on our life. Read to
discover yourselves! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-19741638635918332502017-06-25T13:33:00.003+03:002017-06-25T13:36:34.993+03:00June is for Japanese Reading Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
June is here, (and almost gone) school is over and what can be better than one of my favorite challenges...? <b>The Japanese Literature Challenge</b>, hosted by <b>Bellezza</b> <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/2017/06/23/japanese-literature-challenge-11-welcome/" target="_blank">here</a>. I have lost count of the years I joined the other readers who love (or are about to love) Japanese literature, but for this summer, I have planned to read two great books.<br />
The first one is by my favorite Japanese writer, <b>Haruki Murakami</b> and his non-fiction book written in 2015 <b>"Meseria de romancier"</b> ("The Novelist as a profession", not yet translated into English), published in 2016 by Polirom in the collection dedicated to him. The book contains 12 essays on what it means to be a writer and I am so eager to discover his take on this job and the advice he gives in order to become a successful novelist.<br />
The second one is a Japanese thriller, <b>"Malice"</b>, by <b>Keigo Higashino</b> (called the Japanese Stieg Larsson), written in 1996 and translated into English in 2014. The book belongs to the Police Detective Kaga series, including 9 other novels. It is going to be my first book by Higashino, well -known in Japan for his mystery novels.<b> "Malice" </b>is supposed to be a book which exploits murderous feelings and the reasons why a murder is committed, rather than the killer who did it. This definitely sounds interesting for a summer read!<br />
<br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-8370705773429988762017-05-01T09:00:00.000+03:002017-05-01T09:00:19.077+03:00Alike in our Passion <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kQjtK32mGJQ?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-74813243955644683992017-04-26T14:00:00.000+03:002017-04-26T14:00:09.590+03:00Art to See in Venice <div>
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All those who enter Damien Hirst's latest exhibition in Venice, you'd better believe it! </span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Damien Hirst</b> is one of the most famous and richest
living artists, whose career began in the 90s and since then, he has never
stopped baffling the world of contemporary art with his daring exhibitions and
takes on life and death. Named "the bad boy" of British art, he has
been quiet for the past decade but that was because he has been working on his
newest presentation which opened in Venice on the 9th of April and will last until 3rd December. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>"Treasures from the Wreck of the
Unbelievable"</b> is so enormous that it actually occupies two locations:
Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, buildings own by the billionaire, art
collector and Christie's owner Francois Pinault. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: RO;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The bold exhibition presents a sea fantasy at a fantastical scale and
it even comes with a back story: the objects presented, 189 of them, come from a
ship that sank 2,000 years ago. They are made of different materials, ranging
from marble to silver, "belonging" to Greek, Aztec, Roman, Japanese or
contemporary culture. Hirst's team even filmed this discoveries to make everything believable but, t</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">he ambiguity is always there when you look at the
objects: are they more than 2,000 years old, being covered with corals, or were
they created just a few years ago? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The most impressive piece of work is his 18 meter high black statue "Demon with Bowl" that has you wonder how anyone would manage to get it inside the building. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Even if people seem to either love or hate his exhibitions,
I can truly say it was a privilege to see this incredible presentation of a
genius who makes you believe the unbelievable and who has spent millions of
dollars from his own pocket to do just that... until his collection is
auctioned next year :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-84588156092650441312017-04-19T17:00:00.000+03:002017-04-19T17:47:22.193+03:00God's Silence <span style="font-size: large;"><b>My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Why would a good God allow evil to exist
in the world? The silence we encounter while reading the book is the silence we
go through after we have tried in vain to </span>avoid suffering and
persecution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> <o:p></o:p>Endo’s novel, written in 1966, is based on real events and
people. The story occurs in 1638 and revolves around a Jesuit priest, Sebastian
Rodrigues, who discovers that his former mentor, Father Ferreira, now a
missionary in Japan, has apostatized (he renounced his faith under torture). Rodrigues
doubts this and wants to go to Japan to find for himself but also encourage the
hidden and persecuted Christians there.While hiding, running from the Japanese authorities
and finally being imprisoned, Rodrigues battles with his faith and questions
why God is silent in all this suffering. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I, too,
stood on the sacred image. For a moment this foot was on his face. It was on
the face of the man who has been ever in my thoughts, on the face that was
before me on the mountains, in my wanderings, in prison, on the best and most
beautiful face that any man can ever know, on the face of him whom I have
always longed to love. Even now that face is looking at me with eyes of pity
from the plaque rubbed flat by many feet. 'Trample !' said those compassionate
eyes. 'Trample ! Your foot suffers in pain ; it must suffer like all the feet
that have stepped on this plaque. But that pain alone is enough. I understand
your pain and your suffering. It is for that reason that I am here.' ‚</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'Lord, I
resented your silence.'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 'I was not silent. I suffered beside you.'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 'But you told Judas to go away : What thou
dost do quickly. What happened to Judas?'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 'I did
not say that. Just as I told you to step on the plaque, so I told Judas to do
what he was going to do. For Judas was in anguish as you are now.' (307) </span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Endo, a
Christian himself, suffered religious discrimination and this novel is his response
to the near impossibility of the Eastern and Western cultures existing
harmoniously.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span>Reading this beautiful novel I asked myself whether we, as human beings meant to
err, do not emulate, at times, one by one, Father Ferreira, Father Rodrigues or
Kichijiro, a Judas-like figure. Aren’t we the ones who do not give up hope no
matter what, who question God’s existence and ask to be forgiven no matter how
intolerable our sins may be? Or, as Father Ferreira, we change our views and
give up our own beliefs because the circumstances demand we do so… Don’t we
sacrifice ourselves for the ones we love thus changing forever our dreams and hopes?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rodrigues apostatizes but this is not the
end. It is in his heart that the love for Christ still lingers and the place
where God will answer his prayers and questions.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span><b><span style="font-size: large;">“He who has
heard the word of God, can bear his Silence.” Saint Ignatius </span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read for my own pleasure and for</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/japanese-literature-challenge-10/" target="_blank">Bellezza's Japanese Reading Challenge</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">P.S. Scorsese's movie, which appeared at the end of last year, is a wonderful rendition of the novel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqrgxZLd_gE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-1284140502626988812017-01-08T17:00:00.000+02:002017-01-08T17:05:08.135+02:00Another Gap of Time <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlGg64toxqN_5Ax5NrzGD2jVt1ABR_w0JpNHGrQtxeWQWEq90RyJrTEcLjImJTiNx_409kDGvGwdvs5K9aQPFbXWWK2FYS1Cn1NzFWs8-jVPgk2j9n31dDHbLhgt3sVlndGen1CXDyhrS/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlGg64toxqN_5Ax5NrzGD2jVt1ABR_w0JpNHGrQtxeWQWEq90RyJrTEcLjImJTiNx_409kDGvGwdvs5K9aQPFbXWWK2FYS1Cn1NzFWs8-jVPgk2j9n31dDHbLhgt3sVlndGen1CXDyhrS/s400/PicMonkey+Collage988.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I am (almost) speechless when my former students and current (best) friends get inspired and write about my favorite writers (after I nag them for a while :))<br />
<br />
Here is Alle's review of <b>Jeanette Winterson's "The Gap of Time"</b>, with a few annotations :)<br />
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<i>If you give me a book, you give me a world. My fairy godmother knows that. She bought one for my birthday. Besides chocolate and some butterflies, thiiiiiiiis book had my name on it. She wrote some words on the first page. Those words became, by far, my favorite dedication written by this amazing woman! But... I keep it for myself until I become what she wrote there. Soon, I hope. So, dear, dear FG, I promise. I promise I'll do my best to become your favorite writer. Ooooops. I said it.</i></div>
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<i>So, as I have already mentioned, this book, the present from my dearest fairy godmother was a challenge and something new. Jeanette Winterson is quite unique in style, point of view in matters of love and writing and existence, and her literature requires an open mind and acceptance, otherwise you will get bored. Maybe even annoyed. Her life and her past resulted in her writing style, so before judging an author, try to understand their lives.</i></div>
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<i>I met Jeanette Winterson's literature pretty long time ago. I have this feeling because I cannot remember the things I did yesterday but years ago... Anyway. I remember something that she noticed and I agree with. She said that book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it. True story. I know my own book-obsession-occupation-disease-addiction-fascination-absurdity-fate and I am glad that someone explained all these in a quote. She gave an answer to all those who judge us, the bookworms. Now I can defend my book-obsession-occupation-disease-addiction-fascination-absurdity-fate. Full stop and breathe.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Jeanette Winterson reinvented the Winter’s Tale. The characters are renamed and the action is placed in our modern world. King Leontes becomes Leo Kaiser in Jeanette's cover, a businessman who accuses his wife, MiMi (Hermione in Shakespeare's play) and his best friend, Polixene (who becomes Xeno) of adultery. The little girl, Perdita, is abandoned by Leo who blames his wife and his best friend for an untrue complicity. He is blinded by this idea and he abandons his own child.</i></div>
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<i>The title tells us about the period which wasn't presented in Shakespeare's play. Jeanette Winterson manages to create new modern characters, people who live in their own controversial worlds and, at the same time, in a common world which unites their personal tragedies. The little girl opens and closes the gap. She is part of the destiny, the one who retrieves the characters' cobweb, settling down the chaos. The parable of the angel caught in the bonds of a building and the consequences of those only two choices he can make, demonstrates the difficulty of the matter, the choice which can destroy everything forever or can cause the beginning of something new, rebuilt.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i><b style="background-color: #a64d79;">Here are my favorite quotes:</b></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Tears of rain. (Perfect!).</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">You were loved then and you are loved now. Isn’t that enough? (This might be the best. In my opinion).</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">There was a second, the kind that holds a whole world. </i></span></span><br />
<i style="background-color: #a64d79; color: yellow; font-family: helveticaneue, "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, "lucida grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Isn't there always a history to the story?</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">There's no shortage of heartbreak.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">I have felt safe with you and that was unexpected.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">She wanted to kiss the hesitation of his throat. (This is sooooooooo... makes me close my eyes and dream).</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Leave it without a name but with something to begin the story.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">The past is a grenade that explodes when thrown.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">The whole day passed and then it was night and nothing had changed because everything had changed.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">What is a memory anyway but a painful dispute with the past?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">... sometimes you have to accept that your heart knows what to do. (But what if the heart is wrong?)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Moon’s gravitational pull means that earth doesn’t wobble too much. Scientists call it obliquity. The moon holds us fast.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">You can pay <b>Alle </b>a visit <b><a href="https://aripidincioburi.com/the-gap-of-time/" target="_blank">here</a>. </b></span></span></div>
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Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-4072060030990434762017-01-03T14:00:00.000+02:002017-01-03T16:12:50.632+02:00"White Feathers in the Snow" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMq6gipq_5F3ghpLqAq69gx3my5bu1OG4JjewLKjVyYVqndJ6yuMpaALXChENOMZek_083LWxBAtVsNUr1loo1eS_SR4_AMrITCCG9F3srF3TE9skLZY0EbMIQbcXQ8SJiiDtykw_NwGi/s1600/PicMonkey+Image00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMq6gipq_5F3ghpLqAq69gx3my5bu1OG4JjewLKjVyYVqndJ6yuMpaALXChENOMZek_083LWxBAtVsNUr1loo1eS_SR4_AMrITCCG9F3srF3TE9skLZY0EbMIQbcXQ8SJiiDtykw_NwGi/s400/PicMonkey+Image00.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh; </span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The worlds revolve like ancient women </span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gathering fuel in vacant lots. (Preludes)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have heard the key </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turn in the door once and turn once only </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We think of the key, each in his prison </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus. (The Waste Land)</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because these wings are no longer wings to fly</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But merely vans to beat the air</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The air which is now thoroughly small and dry</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Smaller and dryer than the will</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teach us to care and not to care</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teach us to sit still. (Ash Wednesday) </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a better start of the New Year than with <b>Jeremy Irons</b> reading poetry on BBC Radio 4 and <b>Jeanette Winterson</b> introducing T.S. Eliot's work in the first three parts of the radio show? Such a fantastic insight into Eliot's work and a mesmerising rendition of his lines by Mr. Irons! I simply love it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>T.S. Eliot</b> (1888 - 1965) was a famous American born poet, essayist and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. Back in 1927 he became a British citizen. <b>"The Waste Land"</b> (1922) is considered by many to be the most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. In-between 1930-1960 he was the most dominant figure in poetry and literary criticism in the English speaking world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can listen to the 5 parts for free this month <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086l8ly" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-16956022521906583112016-12-18T16:00:00.000+02:002016-12-18T16:30:29.136+02:00A Japanese "Scandal"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGSM3CxkdTLMMoBkhK-sIxKBz1tRPk_TMZYLMcvWtw3gOoZwJWocVQW0rFRG1rPwJYcDadkhpsQZFC6h4gMvZCCZZXrtBRQVmdDIUPIadHnyOv3Tmx-EMiVusInrEwxQzmb6PLnL9Jbv0/s1600/PicMonkey+Image09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGSM3CxkdTLMMoBkhK-sIxKBz1tRPk_TMZYLMcvWtw3gOoZwJWocVQW0rFRG1rPwJYcDadkhpsQZFC6h4gMvZCCZZXrtBRQVmdDIUPIadHnyOv3Tmx-EMiVusInrEwxQzmb6PLnL9Jbv0/s400/PicMonkey+Image09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>“A person never knows their own
true face. Everybody thinks that the phoney, posed social mask they wear is
their real face.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">Like
any other Japanese novel that I have read, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u>Shusaku Endo's "Scandal"
</u></i></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">impresses with the way the story unfolds and with the main character's
struggle. Even if some critics have found the motif of the Doppelganger (a
ghostly counterpart of a living person according to Merriam-Webster) a bit
boring, I was taken aback by the way in which, step by step, everything turned
blurry and I could not predict what was going to happen next. The mystery and
confusion surrounding the main character, the old writer Suguru, always trying
to write a better book, did not bother me; in fact, this was the key element
that made me finish the novel in no time.</span></h4>
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<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>“True religion should be able to
respond to the dark melodies, the faulty and hideous sounds that echo from the
heart of men.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">What
would you do if one day someone accused you, a person of high moral beliefs, of
something embarrassing and</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">undesirable? What would you do if your wife
discovered you actually hired the young girl you had been dreaming about dating
to help her with the daily chores? Would you accept the invitation to a love
hotel in order to hunt down the impostor that pretends to be you? What if that
impostor is, in fact, you?</span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
novel, written in 1986, is set in Tokyo and it describes the night life of that
period, with the sins and impulses that it involves for the modern man. I quite
liked the story mainly because it reminded me of Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. A must read for all Japanese Literature lovers. </span></h4>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-44399491369783296462016-12-01T13:00:00.000+02:002016-12-01T15:12:22.102+02:00About a Dormant Blog, the National Day and Romanian Writers Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, this blog is not dead, it has simply enjoyed some time off, away from the madding crowds and deeply immersed into some serious reading. To paraphrase John Lennon who said that "life is what happens when you are busy making plans", I could say that reading happens when you stop writing posts :) </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anywayz :), I have read so many books for the challenges I am involved in that the only problem arising is which book to actually write about these days... but since today is the final day for the <i>First Edition of Romanian Writers' Challenge</i> I definitely have to praise a wonderful short story collection, a book which was also awarded <i>The First Prize for a Debut Manuscript</i> by Herg Benet Publishing House for 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Mr. Red's Memoirs" (2015) </b>by <b>Celestin Cheran</b> is the book that made me stop saying I am not a huge fan of short stories, because I think I am. I am so impressed by every single one of these stories that reminded me of Haruki Murakami's talent of sweeping us off our feet with the fantastic turn a story could take, thus being left wondering what has happened and how could the story unfold after the writer has decided to end it on paper. With each of the 20 stories you get the chance to explore a slightly fantastic universe in which dull moments of everyday life transform themselves into a troubling decor for events that may seem unimaginable at first but that manage to make you doubt yourself and your mind. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another thing I enjoyed while reading the short stories was the fact that they are so different one from the others that it feels as if you are reading a different author with each story. Still, I do have two or three favorites: <b><i>"The Man with a Misty Face"</i></b> in which a man is bothered by some stalker that turns out to be him in the future; <b><i>"Jumping from a Skyscraper"</i></b> in which we see a suicide in slow motion; <b><i>"The Escalator"</i></b> - once you get on that escalator, there is no going back...</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "You live all the time with the impression that you are somewhere in the middle of things. You are close to something and far from something else, never where you exactly want to be. In the place where something deep and inexact in you wants to be, something like a heart beating in the night covered by rivers." (The Escalator) </span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Celestin Cheran</b> defines himself as "an obsessive writer, one who writes "Six Word Stories" is order to keep his mind busy from other minds." He is 30 years old and his second volume of short stories appeared only a month ago and I will definitely read it! :) </span>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-45384676751217180862016-09-08T12:00:00.000+03:002016-09-08T16:24:34.421+03:00The Pleasures of Men <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It took me two years from wanting to read this book, to actually getting it and finally finishing it. I do not know why because I quite enjoyed this thriller set in Victorian times and I am glad I did not go with the rather displeasing reviews that stated it was not something spectacular... It proves that there is no account for taste and reading should be about what YOU choose to read and then like or dislike and not other people's opinion... which is not your own if you do not read the actual book.</span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>"The Pleasures of Men"</b> is a captivating book, quite disturbing in certain aspects, but not too disturbing to put it down. It was written in 2012 and it is <b>Kate Williams</b>' first book of fiction about a young girl obsessed with a serial killer in 1840 London. Williams is a historian who first published biographies on Queen Victoria or Napoleon's Josephine and this novel clearly shows her talent on telling a story while writing historical fiction.</span></h4>
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<b style="background-color: #ea9999;">"The footstep comes once more, and then there is a breath. Walking forward, she tells herself that there is nothing. So many times has she thought a man was too near behind when he was simply close for no reason. She hears a cough and a clack of fine-sounding heels and her chest tightens. She moves more quickly. So does he. <i>God help me.</i>" </b></h4>
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Catherine lives in Spitalfields together with her dubious uncle and this Gothic story tells us why little by little. She seems tormented by the fact that years ago she chose to let her little brother be taken by some strangers and she is aware this changed her for the worst. She is attracted to what is dark around her, she does not like the company of others and she tortures herself in trying to find the serial killer who hunts young girls in the scary parts of London. Is she going mad because of her past and her mother who had mental problems or the serial killer is about to get her?</span></h4>
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She does live in a perverse world, but has she contributed to this with her own nature, or the male dominated society has taken its toll on her? We have the cries at night, the fog and the candlelight, the plotting of almost every character in the book, the bumps in the dark but luckily, we do not have the feeling that this may be a work of fiction, too melodramatic for an ordinary taste. The book often gave me the feeling that I myself was in the story, watching Catherine spying on whoever the killer was... fantasizing about his reasons to kill and his next move.</span></h4>
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<b style="background-color: #ea9999;">"That night, he thinks: <i>I must discover the next one.</i> It is exciting, his task, and daunting. The responsibility of finding. Into the streets the next day and searching for her. He understands that he must not be too ambitious, he must not expect to find her immediately. There are many girls in the city, after all."</b></h4>
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I loved the fact that we cannot predict what would happen to Catherine and how the story would end until the last pages. Also, the way Williams renders the character's thoughts for pages on end and makes them so interesting you cannot get bored proves her excellent talent as a writer.</span></h4>
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Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-78666226274987844382016-09-01T07:00:00.000+03:002016-09-01T08:03:15.111+03:00Bonjour, Automne! <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f5r5PXBiwR0?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-19031414590434372072016-08-27T09:00:00.000+03:002016-08-27T09:00:37.576+03:00Becoming Jeanette Winterson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;">T<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">oday my favorite writer turns 57. Happy Birthday to you, <b>Jeanette Winterson</b>! May you remain the same incredibly inspiring writer who is not afraid to speak her mind! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You all know that Brexit happened but you may not be aware how vocal she has been about it and how she no longer thinks that Britain, with all the ugly changes, is her country. I love the fact that, while revisiting classic stories such as Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" in her latest novel <b>"The Gap of Time"</b> (2015) she can still remain grounded in the present and not shy away from having a pertinent opinion about what happens in Britain and around the world. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In an article she wrote this June, she states something that now seems clear for most of us:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: cyan; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I am an optimist by nature. I believe in solutions. We need solutions to the absolute failure of the neoliberal Project Few, whereby capitalism has been hijacked to serve the rich, where investing for the long term has been replaced by short-term profiteering, and where globalisation has been allowed to wreck local economies in the name of free trade."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: cyan; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">She has a willingness to take risks and challenge herself and her readers that has remained constant throughout her career of more than 30 years. She is one of the most ambitious and inventive writers I have come across and I can't wait to (re)read her creative writing! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;">"My two pillars are art and love and I had to learn both." </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">Here is a short interview with her in Australia this May, at the Sydney Writers' Festival:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yuu7Y3uuUgw" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">p.s. The black 'creature' in the picture is her cat, Nero. </span></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-9527061262165203332016-08-19T11:00:00.000+03:002016-08-19T11:00:41.125+03:00Born to Be Blue <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"I want to play. All I want is to play." </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no such thing as too much<b> Ethan Hawke</b> on this blog :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am still incredibly grateful that he can be so prolific and release movie after movie, after book :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>"Born to Be Blue"</b> (2015) is a fantastic one, a mixture of beautiful jazz music, a story of never giving up on your dreams and Ethan Hawke getting more and more talented (who would have thought this was possible? :)) </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"You should find one thing and be better at it than anybody else in the world." </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The drama film tells the story of <b>Chet Baker</b>, the American jazz trumpeter with a divine voice who falls in love in his adulthood and after getting his teeth knocked out in a fight, tries to musically come back and impress his audience with his original style and music. All this happens in the late 1960s and this is one more reason why you will most definitely enjoy the movie: the music is perfect, the atmosphere of those times is rendered vividly and 'the movie within a movie' idea (Chet was in fact asked to star in a movie about his life) mingles just fine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What else to add? Ethan wanted to play this part for more than 15 years but at that time, his age did not match. After years of effort, he successfully managed to do that with his charisma, energy and fearlessness. Am I just praising him because I am a huge fan? Not really. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/20/ethan-hawke-chet-baker-born-to-be-blue-interview" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> and <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/born-to-be-blue-20160324" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> have written wonderful reviews. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last but not least, Ethan performs two of the 14 songs from the soundtrack, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3dxVnEBoxQ" target="_blank">"My Funny Valentine"</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rLuZWz6qh8" target="_blank">"I've Never been in Love Before"</a>. Enjoy it! </span></div>
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<br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-51212581098408718992016-08-16T01:00:00.000+03:002016-08-16T11:44:49.638+03:00Madonna Saved My Life <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxEKoVjX5bI?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-80516546380706911112016-08-12T14:19:00.000+03:002016-08-12T14:19:37.270+03:00My Romeo and Juliet <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"Don't waste your love on somebody who doesn't value it."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">How I love a good live performance, especially if I get the
chance to see it among the first! Almost two months ago I saw the premiere of
the play</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b> </b></span><b style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"Romeo
and Juliet"</b><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">at the</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><b style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">National Theatre in Cluj - Napoca</b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">.
I did not know what to expect, the show did not even have a proper poster
advertising it, but I am glad I went to see it with an open heart, because it
proved to be unexpectedly wonderful. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">"Romeo and Juliet"</span></b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> (1597) is probably
Shakespeare's most famous play and it has been quite popular with directors
along the centuries so it was no wonder I did ask myself whether I would be
surprised or not by how the director would see the play and how the actors
would act everything out on stage. </span><span style="color: #505050; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Tudor Lucanu, the young director, set the story between the two
rival families in two tailoring workshops. The space looked simple,
filled with huge moving mirrors and body-like lamps. Long pieces of colorful
cloth separated the two workshops and the costumes were cleverly created so
that they represented a mixture between the classic and the
nonconformity.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"What's in a name? that which we call a rose</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>By any other name would smell as sweet."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #505050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The performance was filled with funny moments and even though I
knew what was coming next and that the play is, in fact, a tragedy, I could
still enjoy the lighthearted moments which made even the actors on stage smile.
I loved the way the well-known story ended, the director did not change its
ending but he masterfully added a new meaning. What a great idea! Well done to
the young actors who offered two hours of exquisite performance! If you have the chance to see it, you should definitely take it! </span><span style="color: #505050; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-22754711994283374022016-08-07T09:00:00.000+03:002016-08-07T14:43:49.881+03:00The Miniaturist <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9cTLGqW6gKsWBCTcJWAhZEJMLFVcKdpeJqnOds1nefPkuWujiVv3GQiqKMon2xme3bMjcIPvNaivi9J8-dPP9AsFLFNvJDIlq7Pj4AozjWIawYLXr7bmWuNxy5R5Wvf4PbHA-dz7K2wn/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage65.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9cTLGqW6gKsWBCTcJWAhZEJMLFVcKdpeJqnOds1nefPkuWujiVv3GQiqKMon2xme3bMjcIPvNaivi9J8-dPP9AsFLFNvJDIlq7Pj4AozjWIawYLXr7bmWuNxy5R5Wvf4PbHA-dz7K2wn/s400/PicMonkey+Collage65.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Every woman is the architect of her own fortune." </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Celebrating August as the month dedicated to <b>Women in Translation</b>, I had to write a few lines on this absolutely fabulous book I read last month, even if it was in English, not in translation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>"The Miniaturist"</b> is <b>Jessie Burton</b>'s first book and I am definitely going to read her latest "The Muse" which appeared this June. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back to <b>"The Miniaturist" </b>(2014), the book is set in 17th century Amsterdam and it was inspired by<a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-NM-1010" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-NM-1010" target="_blank">a dolls' house which can be found in the King's Museum in Amsterdam.</a> Actually, last year I saw this dolls' house and I still remember the effect it had on me: so small and yet so perfectly made. It has a special place in the vast museum and this is mainly because there are not as many dolls' houses in that pristine condition in the world. At that time I was not aware of the book, but then this year I read a few lines about it on a blog and the whole story intrigued me so I decided to delve in it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>"Growing older does not seem to make you more certain. It simply presents you with more reasons for doubt." </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The Miniaturist" is a mysterious character in the novel who helps the young and newly-wed Nella Oortman to discover the truth about her husband and his relatives and see life in a different (better?) perspective. To pass the time, Nella receives a present from her husband: a dolls' house, which is, in fact, a perfect replica of her own house. Then, the eerie miniaturist sends more figurines than she is required and the secrets start to unfold. Will she be able to cope with all of them? That is for you to find out...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>"A lifetime isn't enough to know how a person will behave." </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What I really loved, besides the thrilling story and the unexpected events was the witty voice in which the whole story was narrated. The words seemed to be perfectly chosen and everything came together in such a way as to create a perfect novel. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sold in more than 1 million copies, this is a wonderful must-read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is Jessie Burton talking about her book in a BBC interview. </span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5DhRqNNzRP4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2