#ThrowbackThursday. April 2016

 

Here are my #ThrowbackThursday reviews from April 2016.

Interestingly enough, war was on my reading programme a lot ten years ago. Why doesn't that ever change???

Abulhawa, Susan "Mornings in Jenin" (aka The Scar of David) - 2010
Everyone who is only slightly interested in world peace should read this and see how much heartache there can be, how much trouble things can cause if not thought through well enough.

Filipović, Zlata "Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo" (BOS: Zlatin dnevnik: otroštvo v obleganem Sarajevu) - 1993

This is a brilliant account about a war. A fantastic way of showing the world that war destroys everything and punishes especially those that are innocent, most often women and children. 

Kulin, Ayşe "Rose of Sarajevo" (TR: Sevdalinka) - 1999

Yugoslavia had seemed a peaceful country with peaceful people, the Yugoslavians I met were always very happy people. Then, all of a sudden, war breaks loose. We can learn a lot from this book. Hopefully stand up the next time such an atrocity happens. Ha!

Marini, Lorenzo "The Man of the Tulips" (IT: L'uomo dei tulipani) - 2002
An interesting story about a flower painter in Amsterdam in the 17th century. The story itself is a love story but it also tells us a lot about life in the Netherlands at the time, the love and craziness for tulips.

Mistry, Rohinton "Family Matters" - 2002
Another brilliant book about life in modern India but the problems that arise might occur in any country, family members get older and the rest of the family has to cope with their feebleness, their deterioration.

Stevenson, Robert Louis "Treasure Island" - 1881/82 
A lot of drama and action in the story. So, if you don't want too much love in your classics, maybe this is one for you. A true classic.

Swarup, Vikas "Q & A" - 2005

This book proves it again. Never judge a book by its cover. Or its movie. Or the description of the movie. 

This was not at all what I expected. We learn about the life of many people living in India, especially the poor ones. A book well worth reading.

Trollope, Anthony "The Way We Live Now" - 1875

Classics belong to my favourite reads. The novel centres around a rich man of whom nobody knows where his money comes from. He has a daughter he wants to marry off to someone of high status but she loves someone else who in turn is just after her money. 

A wonderful book, I cannot recommend this story too much.