Kate Atkinson - Life after Life: New Moon, New Life

"In the space between chaos and shape, there was another chance." (Jeanette Winterson)

The more you live, and read - in some cases - the more you realize that you've been harder on yourself than anyone else in your life. It was you who kept the windows dirty and did not let the sun in, fearing whatever was unknown. It was you who believed for too long  in something not worth believing. We delude ourselves with mere words when actions should speak for themselves. However, more often than not we should give up on people, not because we don't care, but because they don't care.

In "Life after Life" Kate Atkinson optimistically (or obsessively, it depends how you look at it) states: “What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally did get it right? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” What if there were second chances? Or third chances? Would we still want to do things differently? Would we still want to try?

We are the stories we tell ourselves...and inbetween hypertext and metaphysics, "time is a construct, in reality everything flows, no past or present, only the now." The author retells the story of one's life in different times and from different perspectives and we find ourselves asking if novel and real life are alike, being able to do things once more, or life events are singular and final?

"Life after Life" has been praised by prestigious magazines and Kate Atkinson was shortlisted for The Women's prize for Fiction 2013.

My Reading Challenges - September 2013

Having spent the month of August reading whatever my mind fancied, and it did fancy quite a lot of books, this September I am back to face three of the reading challenges I subscribed to:
I will be reading Dan Puric's "Cine suntem" (Who we are) and "The Easiest Way to Live" for Birgit's Non - Fiction Challenge, which I am proud to say that it is going smashing, with 15 books read so far;
Osamu Dazai's "Setting Sun" is meant both for Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge and New Authors Challenge, as is "The Girl with Glass Feet" which I have been planning to read for quite some time.

Happy Reading and Bonne Rentree!

5 Things I've Learned from "The Bastard of Istanbul"

"Whatever falls from the sky above, thou shall not curse it..That includes the rain..."

 

I quite enjoyed reading "The Bastard of Istanbul",  for several reasons. Shafak's style of writing is one I admire, full of powerful images, Turkish folklore and the country's agitated past, and Shafak has quite a unique talent for storytelling. 

The book was published in 2006 and it stirred a public controversy due to the account of the mass killings of the Armenian people by the Ottoman government in the 1920s, recognizing it as a genocide. The writer was accused of insulting the Turkish national identity through the voice of the main character and she was sentenced to three years in prison, but the charges were later dropped. This was the first time I have heard or read about the genocide, and it felt rather strange, just happening after the First World War and people already pretending it did not happen. 

On a more happier note, the book is full of Turkish and Armenian food and sweets and a few of the culinary products were tasted on my trip to Istanbul two years ago, but not ASHURE, which plays such an important part all along the novel. Ashure, or Noah's Pudding is believed to have been made by Noah himself after the flood, with  some of the ingredients that were left. More on its story and the recipe here.  

The third thing I discovered was the story behind djinns, or genies, who can interact with people, (and they do so in the book) and who have free will and can do good or bad. 

Dervishes were not something new to me, since I have read about them and I also saw them dancing and whirling in a wonderful show back in Istanbul, but the book stresses once more their importance in the Turkish culture. 

 One cannot mention Turkish elements of culture without some linguistic examples, and SEREFE seems quite an interesting one. It means "Cheers!" and you can learn more about its history here.
 

Best Birthday Gift :)

All Hail the Queen!

                   Happy Birthday to Madonna!

What my Favorite Writer Is Reading...

Have you ever wondered what your favorite writers are reading? I have, and weeks ago Jeanette Winterson wrote about what she recommended as some of the best releases of this year. All five are memoirs and this was quite foreseeable mainly because Jeanette herself wrote a wonderful memoir two years ago - Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - and I am sure she wanted to check if others are better at this :) Jeanette, without doubt yours is the best :)
I checked what the five books are all about and there are two that I may think about reading somewhere in the future: "She Left Me the Gun" and "A Fort of Nine Towers". The rest don't seem to intrigue me...

The Wave A profoundly moving, piercingly frank memoir of learning to live with grief--that begins in Sri Lanka on Dec. 26, 2004, when the author lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived.
A Fort of Nine Towers A young Afghan man's searing and redemptive memoir of his family and country. Omar survived imprisonment and opened a secret carpet factory to provide work for girls who were forbidden to go to leave their homes. Inflected with folktales, steeped in poetry, this book is a life-affirming triumph.
Bad Boy Renowned American artist Fischl has written a penetrating, often searing exploration of his coming of age as an artist, and his search for a fresh narrative style in the highly charged and competitive New York art world in the 1970s and 1980s.
She Left Me the Gun When Emma Brockes was ten years old, her mother said 'One day I will tell you the story of my life and you will be amazed.' Growing up in a tranquil English village, Emma knew very little of her mother's life before her. She knew Paula had grown up in South Africa and had seven siblings.
I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp The sharp, lyrical, and no-holds-barred memoir of the iconoclastic writer and musician--progenitor of American and British punk rock--which charts the coming of age of an artist and an indelible era in rock & roll history.

Sous le Ciel de Paris...

July is over and what a Paris - related month it was, with lots of books and French music and movies! Oh, how I love holidays with worries aside...
Here are some of the movies I have seen this month, hoping you will be curious enough to give them a try:

"Ma Mere" (My Mother), starring Isabelle Huppert, whom we talked about months ago, is a movie based on Georges Bataille's book with the same title and it presents quite a disturbing story between a promiscuous mother and her troubled son. Having watched an interview with the director, I was made aware that the sex shown was meant to make us cross moral boundaries... It is a movie I would recommend to those who want to check where the new French cinema is heading.

"Dieu Est Grand, Je Suis Toute Petite" (God is great, I am Really Small) is a light movie about Michele, played by now the famous Audrey Tautou ("Amelie") , who struggles with becoming Jewish and still keeping her Jewish boyfriend.

"Amour" is probably one of the most beautiful movies I have seen so far and I am so thrilled that such cinematic jewels are still made by talented directors such as Haneke, whose two other movies I will surely watch. "Amour", which premiered in Cannes in 2012 and won Palme d'Or, the highest distinction tells the story of a love beyond common understanding between an old couple. It is definitely a must see for anyone who still believes in the powers of simple yet touching love stories.

"Dans la Maison" (In the House) was such an amazing discovery. The story is so intricate and captivating, the actors (Kristin Scott Thomas included) are so talented that you find yourself on the edge of your seat impatiently waiting to see what will happen next between the bored teacher and the student whose inspiration goes beyond the limit. Excellent movie!

All four movies seen for my pleasure but also for Paris in July Challenge :)

The Paris Wife - Six Word Sum Up

Paradise is lost when you stop believing.

"The Paris Wife" is probably the best book I will have read this year. I was expecting a love story, but what a love story that was. One between the mighty Ernest Hemingway, just before he became famous and Elizabeth Hadley Hemingway, his first wife. Hadley recounts the years she spent married with Hem, from the first year when he was struggling to finish his first stories and up to the end, when he almost finished "The Sun also Rises" (which he dedicated to Hadley and their son, Bumby).
Eight years older than Hemingway, Hadley dedicates her life to become a supportive wife, while they spend most of their marriage in Paris, befriending Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound or Zelda and F. S. Fitzgerald.
Paula Mclain portraits the couple as a single being, with identical haircuts and nicknames, each one calling the other "Tatie", they ski and drink together, but one day Ernest meets Pauline, whom he seduces in front of Hadley and who will become his second wife.
Although it may seem like a simple love story, filled with betrayal, it is not just that. It is a love story that scares you forever, since Hemingway, married for the fourth time, will write in  his memoir "A Movable Feast" that "I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her."

You can find an interview with the author about this book here.

Read for Paris is July and  New Authors Reading Challenges. 

My Reading Challenges - July 2013

The not so hot month of July is almost entirely devoted to reading French literature or novels set in Paris because such an addicted fan of everything French cannot stay away from this challenge about which you can find out more here. 
Besides reading my first Romain Gary and Robbe-Grillet, my third Stephen Clarke, which seems quite a funny book, just like the previous ones, and the famous Paris Wife, I am going to tackle one book for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge, but I am not sure which one (yet) and some non-fiction books, if there is enough time for reading and sleeping and falling asleep while reading :)

Joyeuse lecture! :)

Vanessa et Benjamin

The most beautiful song of Vanessa's album "Love Songs" is definitely this one, mainly because I also love Benjamin Biolay who produced the entire album and signed eight of its songs. Voici la version live "Le Rempart" and I also recommend "Les Roses Roses" :)

Moi j’ai peur du noir
J’ai peur de la nuit du hasard
J’ai peur ici de n’plus savoir
J’ai peur de me perdre, il est tard
Là sans lumière, j’ai quel espoir ?

If you like it and you want to listen to the whole private concert, then click here :) 

La Musique de Paris en Juillet

I decided to join, for the third year, Paris in July Challenge, which is one of the simplest yet most entertaining challenges, mainly because one can mix books with movies or music, not to mention other fun activities, all related to France and/or Paris. You can read book about France, written by French authors or listen to some French piano bar music... your choice and your delight, since you cannot think about Paris without a smile lingering on your face, but what happens or will happen in Paris stays in Paris, right? :)

The soundtrack for this July will be Patricia Kaas and Vanessa Paradis, whose latest albums are simply beautiful.
Do you have a preference for one of the two? :)

Manuscript Found in Accra (or How to Fight the Best Fight)

You already know how much I appreciate Paulo Coelho's writing and now you can see those are not just simple words :)

This is my review for the French Publishing House Flammarion who kindly offered to me the French edition. In a nutshell, I consider the Manuscript as good as The Alchemist, with the advantage that it does not follow an actual plot and it can be read whenever one feels that they lack courage or determination... A perfect book to gift any friend... or foe :) 

“Combats le bon combat de la foi” (1 Timothee 6:12)

Pour ceux qui lisent constamment les livres de Paulo Coelho, etre fidele aux desirs qu’on puisse avoir est un leitmotiv qui ne demande pas trop d’explications. Coelho reste fidele a son desir d’ecrire un livre tous les deux ans, un livre qui puisse changer le monde, le rendre meilleur, meme si ce desir puisse paraitre un peu desuete. Et encore une fois l’ecrivain y parvient, par des mots simples mais prestigieux, car la verite ne devrait jamais etre trop compliquee.

“Le Manuscrit retouve” est un livre qui presente les valeurs importantes que la vie nous offre a la fin d’un combat avec nous meme, avec les autres, avec les prejudges de la societe ou on vit. “Le Manuscrit” est un livre qu’on puisse relire quand le combat est trop dur, quand on doute tout autour de nous, quand tout nous semble difficile, quand on a peur de l’echec ou du changement, quand on aime mais on ne recoit pas de l’amour en echange.

“Sois toi-meme” nous dit Coelho, et “ceci devrait etre suffisant.” “Aime, parce que tout autre chose est silence.” Est-ce qu’il y a des mots plus vrais que ceux-ci? 

Dan Puric (or How to Speak Beautifully about Your Past)

 If you come from Romania, then you are bound to have heard and even admired Dan Puric. However, this post is not about his great talents as an actor, it is about how beautifully he can talk when it comes to his and our past, us as a nation, his family and his torments.
Last month I had the chance of meeting him, hearing him speak about Romanian martyrs and the Romanian church along the years, and because I am a lucky person after all, I managed to steal two autographs on his two (out of three) books. Oh, and he also wished me Happy Birthday :)
Dan Puric is an exceptional person and I am glad we have already realized that, taking into account how many people were present for his talk and how crowded the grand ballroom at Metropolis seemed before he entered. And because nothing could speak better about his nature than his own words, here are a few quotes from his most recent book, "Be Dignified!" which I tried to translate without omitting their poetic side:

"I truly believe that people who understand life in its depth cannot be too cheerful."
"What's with some memories that cannot be forgotten? Maybe they are pieces of a soul that accompany us forever..."
"After all, what is friendship but that wonderful honor of our soul in which truth can rest."
"Not everything that you have lived has the right to become a memory."
" Then, growing up, I gave to them, to those that looked at me from beyond the fence, my soul. And they rolled it around in the dust of life and gave it back to me, squashed, beaten and lifeless. I sadly took my own soul into my arms and caressed it. Then, when it would heal, it would leave me smiling and throw itself naively into the longing arms of those around. And again, smashed by the cheerful yet unknown waves of life, it would lie tired at my feet, telling me it was for the last time. Since then, I have been burying and digging out my own soulful flight just like a curse." 

You can watch a wonderful interview with Dan Puric here.

My Reading Challenges - June 2013

June looks like a good month for doing some meaningful reading while sipping lemonade under the shade (well, a girl can dream now, can't she? :))
Bellezza will be hosting her Japanese Literature Challenge and I will join in, since I can't really stay away from that, so I have already started reading "Out" by Natsuo Kirino, which seems like an excellent thriller, the type that you cannot put aside, even if it is 3 am.
Also, I will indulge in some non-fiction books for Birgit's Challenge, and I have in mind, among others, Lenoir's "Petit Traite de Vie Interieure" (Short Treatise on Inner Life).
I am also looking forward to Shafak's "Bastard of Istanbul" mainly because I really enjoyed all the books I have read and which she penned.
Last but not least, I hope to be able to read "The Einstein Girl" by Philip Sington, for the New Authors Challenge. The subject is quite intriguing and it seems like the perfect book to start my holiday with.
Happy Reading to all!

5 Books That Changed My Life

Today, Paulo Coelho, one of my all time favorite writers, asked his readers to name the five books that changed their lives. So, how could I not have complied with his request? :)
Here are my FOUR books that really changed life as I see it, and it is only four because I always leave room for more surprising books that may come along...

Do you have any books that changed your life? :)

The Most Beautiful Song in the World? :)

Isabelle Huppert - Woman of Many Faces

My passion for French movies is still growing and I have recently discovered a wonderful actress, Isabelle Huppert, who turned 60 but looks a lot younger than that, whose career began in the '70s and who has been nominated (and also won a few prizes for Best Actress) at international film festivals.You can find more info here. 

 Here are my impressions on the three movies she plays in:
"Gabrielle" is the story of a married woman who realizes she does not love her husband anymore and she actually dares to tell him that face to face. The whole movie is centered around the discussion between Gabrielle and her husband who cannot understand her reasons and lack of love. Huppert manages to embody the cold woman perfectly well but what I did not enjoy was the unrealistic ending, or maybe realistic for the 1920s.
"The Piano Teacher" is a masterpiece, just like Elfriede Jelinek's book. Huppert plays the part of the masochistic piano teacher Erika Kohut who feels attracted to one of her students, played by talented Benoit Magimel. The relation between them becomes quite complex and ends tragically. The movie is extremely tense and it shows, one more time, that Isabelle Huppert is an incredible actress.
"My Worst Nightmare" presents the story of a broke guy who is about to lose his child and the relationship/ affair he develops with a married, cold woman, Agathe, played by Huppert. It is one of those cases in which the two characters should never have met, but they did and we realize in the end the reason. Despite Huppert's performance, the ending did not seem plausible at all because the characters seem too different to be together for a long period of time... but then, I am not a director :)

My next stop: Isabelle Huppert in "Madame Bovary", directed by Claude Chabrol, one of Huppert's favorite directors. 

Audition - Six Word Sum Up

 Japanese literature is great, but Ryu Murakami's books are fantastic, as in mind altering and I can't really name another author who kept me at the edge of every page with every single book I read. "Audition" is tagged as a horror story, but you only discover this in the last twenty pages or so, the tension and the mystery surrounding the female character building up till the moment when you realize that nothing is what it seems, including beautiful young ex-ballerinas...

Lying makes you discover troubled women.

"What husband has never speculated how free he might feel if his wife were suddenly out of the picture? And how many count the days till she takes the kids off for a week with her folks? Let these men actually lose their wives, however, and few can even summon the will or energy to run wild; it’s only then that they recognise the support system they’ve been taking for granted. When Aoyama lost Ryoko he became mired in feelings of utter powerlessness."

"Silhouetted against the off-white walls, she walked to the chair, bowed with modest grace and sat down. That was all, but Aoyama had a very distinct sensation that something extraordinary was happening all around him. It was like being the millionth visitor to an amusement park, suddenly bathed in spotlights and a rain of balloons and surrounded with microphones and flashing cameras. As if Luck, normally dispersed in billions of tiny, freefloating, gemlike particles, had suddenly coalesced in a single beatific vision – a vision that changed everything, for ever. He was aware of an indescribable, fizzy sort of feeling in the pit of his stomach, and of the voice of Reason in his own head chanting the refrain:This can’t be right, it doesn’t make sense, things like this aren’t supposed to happen. But the voice grew weaker as the fizziness seeped into his bloodstream and spread through his system."

The Guardian offers a great review here and you can also watch the trailer for the movie based on the same book, that is if creepy movies do not scare you :)  

Giveaway Winner

There were 12 entries in the giveaway, my first giveaway, and the winner is lucky Rikki, the one who hosted this giveaway and whose idea we embraced. Congrats, Rikki! :) The book will be on its way soon.

The Non - Fiction Giveway Hop

Welcome to my first giveaway on the blog, kindly hosted by Rikki and which starts today, the 26th, ending on the 29th! 

I love reading non - fiction books so I am giving away one of the best books I read last year, "How to Be a Woman", by Caitlin Moran. It is a funny, yet sometimes serious book about the troubles and bliss of being a woman, among other things :)The book is in English and it will be shipped via The Book Depository if you live abroad, or via the Romanian post, if you live in my country.

What do you have to do to win it? Leave a comment with your name and e-mail and tell me why you would like to win this book. Also, you can mention one or two non - fiction books you enjoyed reading.The winner will be announced on the 1st of May.

Here are the other blogs taking part in the giveaway hop:
Rikki's Teleidoscope 

The Book Garden
Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
Exurbanis
Bookchickdi
Bukubukudidi 
doingdeweydecimal
Savingsinsecond