Capote, Truman "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - 1958

Capote, Truman "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - 1958

We read this in our international online book club in March 2025.

I saw the film many, many years ago. I always wanted to read the book, but somehow I never got around to it. Of course, too many books, too little time. Now we have read it in our international online book club.

It really is an excellent book, but unfortunately much too short.

The description of the characters, especially Holly Golightly and the nameless narrator, is excellent. You can feel the relationship between the people, the problems that people had back then. Would the book be written like this today, would the characters still live like this today? Certainly not, but that makes the story even more interesting.

Comments by other readers:

I think the book was interesting and well written, but it was not a great discussion-book. We had much to say about the stereotypical set of characters and her relationship types. But not that much else. I found it very sad anyway.

From the back cover:

"It's New York in the 1940s, where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany's. And nice girls don't, except, of course, Holly Golightly. Pursued by Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires, Holly is a fragile eyeful of tawny hair and turned-up nose, a heart-breaker, a perplexer, a traveller, a tease. She is irresponsibly 'top banana in the shock department', and one of the shining flowers of American fiction."

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen"

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen" (Japanese: ちびねこ亭の思い出ごはん 黒猫と初恋サンドイッチ/Chibinekoteino omoidegohan kuronekoto hatsukoisandoitchi) (Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen #1) - 2020

This is an interesting story. I am sure we all have wanted to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one. Now, the Chibineko Kitchen makes this possible. You go there and order a Remembrance Meal. Then, when it is served, the person in question appears and you can have one very last talk with them until the food gets cold.

Sounds desirable, right? The story is heartwarming, it might even help some of us to get over the loss of a loved one.

And there are quite a few nice Japanese recipies in the book.

From the back cover:

"Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they'll be expecting you.

These are the directions Kotoko has been given. She arrives at the tiny restaurant, perched right by the water, early in the morning. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she's been promised that the food served there will bring him back to her, for one last time.

Taking a seat in the small, wood-panelled room, she waits as Kai, the restaurant's young chef, brings out steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice and miso soup. Though she hadn't ordered anything, Kai had somehow known the exact dish her brother always used to cook for her. And as she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy . . .

Soul-nourishing and comforting, The Chibineko Kitchen will help you remember what matters most in life."

Barbal i Farré, Maria "Stone in a Landslide"

Barbal i Farré, Maria "Stone in a Landslide" (Catalan: Pedra de tartera) - 1985

I read another book by Maria Barbal before, "Campher" and when I saw this one, I just had to pick it up.

We have a great insight into the lives of the people in Catalonia at the beginning of the last century, how their lives were changed by the Spanish Civil War. Conxa tells us about her whole lifetime, from being a poor child given to relatives who didn't have any. I know this happened a lot in former times, people often had to many kids and then there were always those who didn't have any. Then one of the children from that family was given to relatives to "inherit" from them. I've heard this from my parents who knew quite a few examples in their youth.

While this is only a novella, the story is as rich as longer novels, there is so much in this. You almost have the feeling as if the author talks about her own life, even though she lived more than half a century later. But she must have heard a lot from her family, as we all did.

And it's not just about that part of our world or that time. War is awful at all times, and times were harsh anywhere (and still are for many, many people around the world). The author has a great eye for the people. And her style is extraordinary.

From the back cover:

"The beginning of the 20th century: 13-year-old Conxa has to leave her home village in the Pyrenees to work for her childless aunt. After years of hard labour, she finds love with Jaume - a love that will be thwarted by the Spanish Civil War. Approaching her own death, Conxa looks back on a life in which she has lost everything except her own indomitable spirit. This story presents a fascinating timeless voice, down to earth and full of human contradictory nuances. Its' the expression of someone who searches for understanding in a changing world but senses that ultimately there may be no such thing. The Catalan modern classic, first published in 1985, is now in its 50th edition, and has sold over 50 000 copies in the last two years in Germany alone."

Fosse, Jon "Morning and Evening"

Fosse, Jon "Morning and Evening" (Norwegian: Morgon og kveld) - 2001

This was our international online book club story for July 2024.

I had found it after Jon Fosse received the Nobel Prize for literature and then suggested it to the book club. Since we all like to read books by  Nobel Prize winners, it was chosen as one of our books.

I have always loved Nobel laureates; there is hardly ever an author among them that I don't care for. And this last one is just the same. A fascinating story about the life and death of a man. A simple story about the passing of an old hardworking fisherman with a humble life. No embellishments needed, a plain reflection on an ordinary life.

Jon Fosse describes all this so wonderfully, his writing is fantastic. A well deserving winner of this most prestigious award.

This is only a novella, even the German translation has only about 120 pages but it is as big as many large books of 500 pages or more (my favourite stories).

Other readers were happy, as well. So, here are some comments:

"At first the writing-style was very offputting, as i am too literal to enjoy poetry and the roundabout way of writing. But then after half the book, I started to understand it, and really enjoyed how much feeling you could get out of the minimalistic text."

"The ending was just stunning."

"It started off annoying me with the style of writing.. the flow of thought, no punctuation... but then about halfway through I was just in awe of the skilful and atmospheric way the story was told."

"The translation to Swedish was a bit special, though, the translator had left a lot of words in the book that are nowadays considered part of the ancient-swedish, and not in normal use anymore."

To be honest, I didn't realize that until I heard this comment. Yes, some of the wording seemed old fashioned even in German but I just considered that the "Scandinavian way".

From the back cover:

"A child who will be named Johannes is born. An old man named Johannes dies. Between these two points, Jon Fosse gives us the details of an entire life, starkly compressed. Beginning with Johannes's father's thoughts as his wife goes into labor, and ending with Johannes's own thoughts as he embarks upon a day in his life when everything is exactly the same, yet totally different, Morning and Evening is a novel concerning the beautiful dream that our lives have meaning."

Jon Fosse received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2023 "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Gaiman, Neil "Coraline"

Gaiman, Neil "Coraline" - 2002

Coraline is only a short novella. It was an alright read though nothing spectacular. I probably would have enjoyed reading it with my boys.

I have never been a fan of books where children are heroes and this falls into this category. But I can see the attraction.

I loved the pictures by Chris Riddell. He is a wonderful illustrator and makes every book better, even the great ones.

And I liked these quotes:
"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
"When you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave."

Luckily, there are always several people in a book club who have a different opinion, so here goes:
•    I absolutely loved Coraline. I listened to it as an audiobook that was narrated by Neil Gaiman himself. His narration was perfect for the story.
•    The story had everything I want from a book: it was mysterious, a little spooky, thrilling, had thought provoking layers and interesting vivid details. Not to mention a lovely protagonist, very interesting different side characters, especially the CAT, and a really interesting antagonist.
•    Nice plot twists with playing games with the other mother and everything turning out alright at the end again.
•    I rather not think about what this says about me and my brain, but this was the most brain stimulating and heartwarming story I read/heard all year. ♥

We read this in our international online book club in December 2023.

From the back cover:

"Sometimes, a door is closed for a very good reason…

There is something strange about Coraline’s new home. It’s not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It’s the other house - the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back…"

Bennett, Alan "The Clothes They Stood Up In"

Bennett, Alan "The Clothes They Stood Up in" - 2001

After reading "The Uncommon Reader" a while ago, our book club decided to read another book by Alan Bennett. I would have rather waited a little longer until reading another book by the same author, but it was decided by the majority and it wasn't very long (though that is not really a recommendation for me).

The story makes us think about the possessions we have and how important they are to us. How much do they make our lives?

But that is all. I didn't enjoy the story much, neither the writing nor the characters or the content. It was an alright story but - as so often - more would have been more. Too short for my liking. Not really as funny as announced. It might take a while until I pick up an Alan Bennett story again.

There was only one member in our group that liked the story, and her comments gave us a little more insight into it. That's always great about a book club.

From the back cover:

"The Clothes They Stood Up In is Alan Bennett's first story. Like Charles Dickens' novels which were first published in magazines, it originally appeared in the London Review of Books - which the author says 'seems to me (and not just because I occasionally contribute to it) the liveliest, most serious and also the most radical literary periodical we have'.

In the nationally bestselling novel The Clothes They Stood Up In, the Ransomes return from the opera to find their Regent’s Park flat stripped bare--right down to the toilet-paper roll. Free of all their earthly belongings, the couple faces a perplexing question: Who are they without the things they’ve spent a lifetime accumulating? Suddenly a world of unlimited, frightening possibility opens up before them."

Coetzee, J.M. "Waiting for the Barbarians"

Coetzee, J.M. "Waiting for the Barbarians" - 1980

We read this in our international online book club in January 2023.

No names or places are mentioned in this novel. So, the story could take place in any corrupt country, in any dictatorship. Since the author is South African, I suppose that's where it takes place.

The description of the protagonist, the magistrate in a small post on the border of "the Empire" is very good. We see how he goes from thinking he is a loyal servant of a fair government to the discovery that the so-called barbarians are oppressed by the regime and those who think they are better than others for whatever reason.

As with so many novels that tell us about these situations, it is quite frightening to think how it is living in such a situation, where already your thoughts are a sin and nobody is supposed to know about it. And beware of helping others, especially if they are on the list of "enemies", "terrorists", "barbarians", whatever they are called in the respective countries.

This book might be more than fifty years old, but it's still as contemporary as ever. I can think of a few countries that are still in a similar situation, and I bet you can, as well.

Comments by other members:

I thought a lot about the namelessness of them/it all. I found it brutal, and abit difficult to read, as there was so much content in every word. I was not at all fond of the main character either, for being quite self-centered and lazy, (and a bit whiny) thinking one right corrects all wrongs and times he was the enabler.

I was left with questions such as "Why must empires expand?" "Why do empires such as this one pave the way for cruel and ambitious people into places of leadership?" "Where does suspicion come from?" I mean, attack first or else "the others" will attack us" or "cause pain to gain the real truth" or is it a calculated power-move, propaganda, guiding the narrative of the empire to keep expanding and keeping power central. "Who were really the barbarians?".

I enjoyed our discussion about the book a lot.

From the back cover:

"For decades the Magistrate has been a loyal servant of the Empire, running the affairs of a tiny frontier settlement and ignoring the impending war with the barbarians. When interrogation experts arrive, however, he witnesses the Empire's cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war. Jolted into sympathy for their victims, he commits a quixotic act of rebellion that brands him an enemy of the state. J. M. Coetzee's prize-winning novel is a startling allegory of the war between opressor and opressed. The Magistrate is not simply a man living through a crisis of conscience in an obscure place in remote times; his situation is that of all men living in unbearable complicity with regimes that ignore justice and decency."

J.M. Coetzee "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider" received the Nobel Prize in 2003 and the Booker Prize for this novel in 1999.

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Kafka, Franz "The Judgment"

Kafka, Franz "The Judgment" (German: Das Urteil) - 1912

A son's relationship with his father. The bad relationship between son and father. The terrible relationship between son and father. Supposedly the closest thing to Kafka's autobiography. If so, I no longer wonder at this writer's insane thoughts. How can a father wish his son dead?

Well, Kafka really isn't my thing at all.

Book Description:

"'The judgment' is considered the most autobiographical of Kafka's stories. First, there are Kafka's own commentaries and entries in his diary. When he re-read the story, for instance, he noted that only he could penetrate to the core of the story which, much like a newborn child, 'was covered with dirt and mucus as it came out of him'; he also commented in his diary that he wanted to write down all possible relationships within the story that were not clear to him when he originally wrote it. This is not surprising for a highly introverted writer like Kafka, but it does illustrate the enormous inner pressure under which he must have written 'The judgment.'"

Gotthelf, Jeremias "The Black Spider"

Gotthelf, Jeremias "The Black Spider" (German: Die schwarze Spinne) - 1842

A story that is probably as old as mankind. Several old legends are processed here. The eternal struggle between Good and Evil is described. The devil tries to bribe people. And anyone who doesn't keep their pact with him will be punished. I'm surprised they haven't made a movie out of it yet. Or maybe they did?

From the back cover:

"It is a sunny summer Sunday in a remote Swiss village, and a christening is being celebrated at a lovely old farmhouse. One of the guests notes an anomaly in the fabric of the venerable edifice: a blackened post that has been carefully built into a trim new window frame. Thereby hangs a tale, one that, as the wise old grandfather who has lived all his life in the house proceeds to tell it, takes one chilling turn after another, while his audience listens in appalled silence. Featuring a cruelly overbearing lord of the manor and the oppressed villagers who must render him service, an irreverent young woman who will stop at nothing, a mysterious stranger with a red beard and a green hat, and, last but not least, the black spider, the tale is as riveting and appalling today as when Jeremias Gotthelf set it down more than a hundred years ago. The Black Spider can be seen as a parable of evil in the heart or of evil at large in society (Thomas Mann saw it as foretelling the advent of Nazism), or as a vision, anticipating H. P. Lovecraft, of cosmic horror. There’s no question, in any case, that it is unforgettably creepy."

DeLillo, Don "The Silence"

DeLillo, Don "The Silence" - 2020

We read this in our international online book club in September 2022.

I like dystopian novels and when our book club chose this one by an author I haven't read, I was looking forward to it. I'm not a huge fan of short stories but sometimes they turn out well.

This one didn't. There wasn't enough information about what was going on and certainly none about what happened after. Granted, we don't know, yet, what might happen if this ever was the case.

The world is losing its technology including all the internet. It would have been nice to see what happens to the world rather than listening to some weird, unexplainable eruptions by some of the characters.

The best part of the book is the quote in the prequel by Albert Einstein (which I knew already and totally agree with):
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

After that introduction, I would have wished that this would be shown at least a little.

Comments from another member:" I have been holding off on writing something, because I found it all so confusing. So I will say just that I found the book confusing and not at all what I was expecting. It was more like a piece of art or theatre-manuscript for some monologue than a novel. But if you look away from my expectations the story did highlight what a catastrophic event would be like from the perspective of very few people. There were the people who weirdly survived the planecrash and went on as if nothing had happened, then there was the guy who kept staring at the TV, a conspiracy theorist, the hostess. But not much about what happened in the outside world except for a few words on it not being good. Again something new to widen my reading experiences, but very confusing."

And another one: "I completely agree. It reads like a confused stream of consciousness exercise that no one was meant to really understand. Maybe it was meant to evoke some sort of feeling similar to Sartre's 'La Nausée' only this novel only evoked a sense of absurdity."

And I totally could relate to this one: "If I ever experience a catastrophic event I sincerely hope the folks I am with have more wits than the very dull characters in this book. A short but tedious book."

Book Description:

"From one of the most dazzling and essential voices in American fiction, a timely and compelling novel set in the near future about five people gathered together in a Manhattan apartment, in the midst of a catastrophic event.

Don DeLillo completed this novel just weeks before the advent of Covid-19. The Silence is the story of a different catastrophic event. Its resonances offer a mysterious solace.

It is Super Bowl Sunday in the year 2022. Five people, dinner, an apartment on the east side of Manhattan. The retired physics professor and her husband and her former student waiting for the couple who will join them from what becomes a dramatic flight from Paris. The conversation ranges from a survey telescope in North-central Chile to a favorite brand of bourbon to Einstein’s 1912 Manuscript on the Special Theory of Relativity.

Then something happens and the digital connections that have transformed our lives are severed.

What follows is a dazzling and profoundly moving conversation about what makes us human. Never has the art of fiction been such an immediate guide to our navigation of a bewildering world. Never have DeLillo’s prescience, imagination, and language been more illuminating and essential."

Keller, Gottfried "Novellas"

Keller, Gottfried "Novellas" (German: Novellen) - 1855/56

"Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" (Goodreads) (A Village Romeo and Juliet) - 1855/56 (Goodreads)
"Die drei gerechten Kammacher" (Goodreads) (The Three Decent Combmakers) - 1856 (Goodreads)
"Kleider machen Leute" (Goodreads) (Clothes Make the Man) - 1874 (Goodreads)
"Dietegen" (Goodreads) (Dietegen) - 1874 (Goodreads)
"Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten"(Goodreads) (The Banner of the Upright Seven) - 1860 (Goodreads)
"Die Berlocken" - 1881 (in "Sinngedicht") (Goodreads)
"Der schlimm-heilige Vitalis" - 1872 (Goodreads)
"Das Tanzlegendchen" - 1872 (Booklooker)

Only a few of them have been translated into English:

This was a collection of stories by Gottfried Keller, a Swiss writer of novellas and his literary realism in the 19th century.

This book has been on my TBR pile for a while. After reading it, I also understand why. It's just outdated. Not just the writing, the views, as well. In addition, many stories are "copied". "Romeo and Juliet in the Village" already says it in the title, "Clothes Make the Man", one might also guess, is based on the fairy tale "Puss in Boots", only this time there is no cat involved. It took me a while to read the tome, but I didn't really enjoy any of the stories, even though they are supposedly humorous.

Here are the descriptions of the four novellas that have been translated:

"Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" (Goodreads) (A Village Romeo and Juliet) - 1855/56 (Goodreads)

"Love is necessarily an important element in all imaginative literature, but with Gottfried Keller it does not overshadow all other aspects of life. Great passion we do not find in his works. In 'A Village Romeo and Juliet,' it is not ill-consuming love that makes the two young people seek death, but the bitter realization of life's law, as they understood it, which made it impossible for them ever to be united. The story is a fine illustration of what a great artist may make out of his raw material. Keller had read in a newspaper a report of the suicide of two young people, the sort of tragedy that we may read almost daily in newspapers; he seized upon the possibilities of the situation and the result was this story, perhaps the best he ever wrote.

Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was one of the foremost Swiss novelists and one of the most original figures of German literature since Goethe, a master of style worthy to be classed with the great names of all ages. (John Albrecht Walz)"

"Kleider machen Leute" (Goodreads) (Clothes Make the Man) - 1874 (Goodreads)

"Wenzel is a penniless tailor of Seldwyla who - because of the luxurious suit he has made for himself - is mistaken for a young lord when arriving in a Swiss town. The tailor is feted by the townsfolk and attracts the attention of a high-born young woman."

"Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten"(Goodreads) (The Banner of the Upright Seven) - 1860 (Goodreads)

"The seventeen-year-old beauty delivered this speech in an apparently cold and matter-of-fact tone, at the same time picking up her oars and heading for the shore. Karl rowed beside her full of anxiety and apprehension, and no less full of vexation at Hermine's words. She was half glad to know that the hot-headed fellow had something to worry about."

"Die drei gerechten Kammacher" (Goodreads) (The Three Decent Combmakers) - 1856 (Goodreads)

"Story of the three journeyman carpenters, who all did the right thing and therefore could not exist side by side."

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich "The Judge and his Hangman"

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich "The Judge and his Hangman" (GE: Der Richter und sein Henker) - 1950

I read this story at school, one of our required readings in German class. But I've enjoyed all of our readings, well, except for very, very few.

This is no ordinary crime thriller. Inspector Bärlach is dying. Forty years earlier he had bet with the criminal Gastmann that he could commit murder without being able to prove Bärlach. Now Bärlach is facing his last case and is trying to convict Gastmann.

In this novel we don't just find a classic crime thriller, we also find an attempt to come to terms with the past. The book was written by a Swiss auhtor shortly after World War II.

The book was filmed several times, which probably speaks for the story. And while I'm not a big fan of crime fiction, this is a very readable book.

From the back cover:

"Inspector Bärlach is dying. But not fast enough for his arch-enemy.

When a member of the Bern police force is shot dead on a Swiss country road, the enigmatic Inspector Bärlach and his colleague Tschanz are intent on tracking down the killer. But the ailing Inspector doesn't have time to lose. Soon the pair discover that the victim was murdered on his way to a clandestine party at the home of a wealthy power broker - so why was a local policeman socialising with some of Switzerland's most influential men? Who was his shadowy host? And why has Bärlach's past returned to haunt him in his final hours?

The Judge and His Hangman is a thrilling tale of lifelong rivalry, and of two men chained together by a wager that would destroy them both.

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist, most famous for his plays The Visit and The Physicists, which earned him a reputation as one of the greatest playwrights in the German language. He also wrote four highly regarded crime novels: The Pledge (adapted for a 2001 film starring Jack Nicholson), Suspicion and The Execution of Justice, are also published by Pushkin Vertigo.

Inspector Bärlach forgoes the arrest of a murderer in order to manipulate him into killing another, more elusive criminal. This is a thriller that brings existential philosophy and the detective genre into dazzling convergence."

They spell it Barlach in the translation though it is spelled Bärlach in the original edition.

Kafka, Franz "The Metamorphosis"

Kafka, Franz "The Metamorphosis" (German: Die Verwandlung) - 1912

Kafka was one of the writers I had to read in school and I found terrifying to read. Especially this story here. That was probably the first step that put any "fantastic literature" on my negative list.

I can't relate to that kind of idea. At the time, I even wished that Kafka's friend, who had promised him to destroy all his works after Kafka's death, had fulfilled this. Unfortunately, he didn't, and so students have to struggle forever and ever with reading his stories.

What does the author want to tell us with this story? No idea. And I really don't want to know either.

From the back cover:

"One morning, traveling salesman Gregor Samsa wakes from an anxious dream to discover that he has inexplicably changed into a monstrous insect. Nonetheless, life goes on, and poor Gregor is left to deal not only with the existential questions of who or what he now is but also with more mundane concerns: his job (which he fears he’ll lose), his loved ones (whom he fears he disgusts), and the daily indignities of everyday life (which continue apace). Soon, even those who sympathize with his bizarre predicament begin to lose their patience…

A darkly comic examination of social mores, family dynamics, and the nature of identity itself, Kafka’s unsettling masterpiece has inspired a century of literary debate and interpretive theories. But its enduring power lies in the simplicity of its audacious premise, its deadpan surrealism, and its humane sensitivity."

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich "The Visit"

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich "The Visit" (German: Der Besuch der Alten Dame) - 1956

The real translation of the title is "The Old Lady's Visit". But they shortened it for the English edition.

A witty story, which is also very philosophical and interspersed with a lot of humor.

One of the books we had to read in school. Which is still read in schools today. And rightly so. Not only is the narration well written, it also contains many themes. How much people can change when it is to their advantage. Especially to the negative. What are people willing to do for money?

This is one of the most important questions asked and answered here. The book is more than half a century old, but it could just as easily take place today.

I rather watch plays than read them. I saw this play not only at my son's school, where it was performed by the seniors - and very well indeed, I've now also been able to enjoy it as a musical. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely take it. And of course read the book.

From the back cover:

"Friedrich Dürrenmatt is considered one of the most significant playwrights of our time. During the years of the Cold War, arguably only Beckett, Camus, Sartre, and Brecht rivaled him as a presence in European letters. In this ALTA National Translation Award-winning new translation of what many critics consider his finest play, Joel Agee gives a fresh lease to a classic of twentieth-century theater. Dürrenmatt once wrote of himself: 'I can best be understood if one grasps grotesqueness,' and The Visit is a consummate, alarming Dürrenmatt blend of hilarity, horror, and vertigo. The play takes place 'somewhere in Central Europe' and tells of an elderly millionairess who, merely on the promise of her millions, swiftly turns a depressed area into a boom town. But the condition attached to her largesse, which the locals learn of only after they are enmeshed, is murder. Dürrenmatt has fashioned a macabre and entertaining parable that is a scathing indictment of the power of greed and confronts the perennial questions of honor, loyalty, and community."

Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari"

Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari" (Japanese: 神去なあなあ日常 Kamusari nānā nichijō) - 2009

We read this in our international online book club in May 2022.

I doubt I would have picked up the book otherwise. I have read plenty of books about young people who are sent somewhere and then their whole life turns around, it sounded like chick lit for teens.

But it was alright. Not a great book but not that bad, either. There is a little about Japanese mythology and beliefs, that's always interesting.

The author has a nice and pleasing writing style. It was a quick read but nothing remarkable. Apparently, this is book #1 in "The Forest Series". I doubt I will read the second one.

Comments from some other members:

• I think this was an easy and pleasant nature and coming of age story. One has to take it for what it is though, good light summer reading without any real dangers or drama. In the book there were many opportunities for a more serious and dramatic story.
• I think part of that is down to the fact that it is actually the first of a trilogy, so this book is in fact only the introduction. Having recently read "Story" and currently reading "The 7 Basic Plots" for college, I foresee a crisis happening in Book 2 that will be resolved in Book 3. Although I'm not planning to read either of them, so I won't find out if I'm right or not. (True, this is the beginning of a trilogy, I still would like to have a "complete" book if it is published as a book and I can't buy all three at the same time.)
• The value of "The Easy Life in Kamusari" lies in the imagining of a way of life closer to the earth, respecting it, and working in partnership with it. This orientation is one we all need to learn and to live if we want to continue to live on this planet. This is important for all ages as it presents the most profound drama of our age. The book is also a light, enjoyable summer read. I read it in an area of staggering beauty, inhaling the scent of cedars beside me, on my deck in Canada. The truth of the land itself is very difficult to convey and this book does it well.

From the back cover:

"From Shion Miura, the award-winning author of The Great Passage, comes a rapturous novel where the contemporary and the traditional meet amid the splendor of Japan’s mountain way of life.

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is 'take it easy.'

At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Yuki learns to fell trees and plant saplings. He begins to embrace local festivals, he’s mesmerized by legends of the mountain, and he might be falling in love. In learning to respect the forest on Mt. Kamusari for its majestic qualities and its inexplicable secrets, Yuki starts to appreciate Kamusari’s harmony with nature and its ancient traditions.

In this warm and lively coming-of-age story, Miura transports us from the trappings of city life to the trials, mysteries, and delights of a mythical mountain forest."

Meri, Veijo "The Manila Rope"

Meri, Veijo "The Manila Rope" (Finnish: Manillaköysi) - 1957

This was the Finnish book in our international online book club book in May 2022.

Since the main one "The Easy Life in Kamusari" was so short, I added this to my list. Another short story about a country about which we never read enough.

A war story, yet quite funny. Soldiers on their way home for home leave during the war keep telling each other stories of what happened to them or others and their way back and to the battlefields or even on the battlefields. Sounds like a sad war story but most of the tales are pretty humorous.

Definitely an anti-war story. Quite strange at times but definitely very readable. Short and sweet.

Comment from another member:
I would not have picked up this book if it were not for the book club again and am again some wiser. The many stories amused me a lot, (and some horrified me, like the one about the greedy pigs) but under the surface there was a lot of insights into what the wartime was like for my grandparents who were in the army then. It interested me to see from a very narrow perspective how day to day happenings were told to others, as there were no social media or televisions with news back then. I feel nowadays the war is often looked at from above and observed as a whole, in history books and in movies, while then all you knew was your orders and what rumours you heard from others.

From the back cover:

"Veijo Meri's novel is set in Finland during the last years of World War II. On a crowded troop train winding its way through the winter landscape, the home-going soldiers pass their time playing cards, drinking, snoozing, and exchanging stories of the battlefield. It is these stories (constantly interrupted by station stops, the intrusion of the military police, and simple fatigue) that make up the vibrant fabric of the novel. Laughter is the predominant note: the laughter of men newly released from the terror of battle. Though frequently macabre in detail and brutally realistic in its descriptions of men at war, the book is pervaded by a robust sense of comedy that purges combat of all taint of hatred and clearly underlines the essential and tragic ridiculousness of war."

Tucholsky, Kurt "Rheinsberg"

Tucholsky, Kurt "Rheinsberg - a Storybook for Lovers" (German: Rheinsberg - ein Bilderbuch für Verliebte) - 1912

This is a lovely little story about a young couple in love, nothing less, nothing more. It was written in 1912, when nobody thought about war but young people tried to enjoy their lives. While it is not an autobiography, it carries snippets of the authors life. But he also criticizes the society at the beginning of the 20th century that showed the world an image of Kaiser Wilhelm's times.

The book was a scandal. An unmarried couple on holidays together for a weekend, pretending to be married, sharing a room. But it has been a favourite among German readers ever since, still more than a hundred years later. It was also turned into a nice little film in 1967 (see here).

This was Kurt Tucholsky's first success, he had many more, the most popular "Schloß Gripsholm", similar to this story but published later, in 1931. Then, he had to feat something worse than the outrage of prude readers, he was not only left wing, a pacifist, anti-military (especially after having to serve during WWI) and definitely anti-Nazi, he was also Jewish. He wrote with many different pseudonyms, e.g. Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger, Ignaz Wrobel but mostly Kaspar Hauser. Still, he fled to Sweden where he died of an overdose of his painkillers and there is a dispute whether this was intentional or accidental.

Kurt Tucholsky has given the world some lovely stories but, even more important, he has set an example that we shouldn't be quiet if we think something is not right. If there were more Tucholskys and fewer Nazis, the world would be a better place.

From the back cover:

"One summer before World War I, a young couple escapes on a romantic weekend getaway to the small German town of Rheinsberg, north of Berlin, in the midst of a rural landscape filled with country houses and castles, cobble-stone streets, lush forests, and dreamy lakes. The story of Wolfie and Claire, told with a fresh, new style of ironic humor, became Kurt Tucholsky’s first literary success and the blueprint for love for an entire generation.

Kurt Tucholsky was a was a brilliant satirist, poet, storyteller, lyricist, pacifist, and Democrat; a fighter, lady’s man, one of the most famous journalists in Weimar Germany, and an early warner against the Nazis. Erich Kaestner called him a small, fat Berliner,' who 'wanted to stop a catastrophe with his typewriter'. When Tucholsky began to write, he had five voices - in the end, he had none. His books were burned and banned by the Nazis, who drove him out of his country. But he is not forgotten."

Agus, Milena "From the Land of the Moon"

Agus, Milena "From the Land of the Moon" or: The House in Via Manno (Italian: Mal di pietre) - 2006

An interesting tale about the life of a woman who cannot break out of the prescribed path. One would like to leave immediately for Sardinia. Or at least to Milan. Definitely to Italy. 

This is a short but very powerful story about family history, told by the granddaughter of the woman in question.

The original title is "Kidney Stones". The unnamed married woman is sent away to treat her kidney stones and then she meets the love of her life. They even turned it into a film in the meantime, see here.

From the back cover:

"But what do we really know about other people? In this international bestselling novel, a young unnamed Sardinian woman explores the life of her grandmother, a romantic, bewitching, eccentric figure, and a memorable literary creation. Her life has been characterized by honor and fierce passion, and above all by an abiding search for perfect love that has spanned much of the twentieth century. Ever in the background of this remarkable woman's story is the stunning Sardinian landscape, the deep blues of the Mediterranean, the rugged mountains of the Sardinian back-country dotted with charming villages lost in time.

With warmth, great humor, and deep insight Milena Agus writes about the customs and the beauty of her native Sardinia, about love, family, immigration, war, and peace. From the Land of the Moon is the moving English debut of one of Italy s most important new literary talents."

Eichendorff, Joseph von "Life of a Good-For-Nothing"

Eichendorff, Joseph von "Life of a Good-For-Nothing" aka "Memoirs of a Good-For-Nathing" (German: Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts und andere Novellen) - 1826

German is a good language for romanticism. We can wallow in words, we can praise nature and anything we like to praise with overwhelming expressions. And that is just what Joseph von Eichendorff does.

As in any book by this genre, don't expect too much deep thinking or philosophy, even though it is in there, just on a low level. Nowadays, I would certainly classify this as chick lit, a novel about someone who doesn't fit in and finds a happy end.

From the back cover:

"Following a row with his father, a young man leaves home, and - following a series of picturesque wanderings - eventually finds love with the girl of his dreams. Deeply imbued with the style of German Romanticism, this classic story is at once an exhilarating romp and an exemplary distillation of 19th-century thought."

Van Dyke, Henry "The Story of the Other Wise Man"

Van Dyke, Henry "The Story of the Other Wise Man" - 1896

The title of this little story reminded me of "The Tale of Three Trees" which I used to read to my RE students every Easter.

It's not exactly like that story but comparable, a nice story to imagine what the wise men were up to, why they came to the stable where Jesus was born. Not just as nice story for kids but I would include it in my classes nowadays. A lovely little tale.

From the back cover:

"'I do not know where this little story came from - out of the air, perhaps. One thing is certain, it is not written in any other book, nor is it to be found among the ancient lore of the East. And yet I have never felt as if it were my own. It was a gift, and it seemed to me as if I knew the Giver.' Henry Van Dyke

Long, long ago, a wise man named Artaban, a priest of the Magi, discerned from heavenly signs that the time was at hand for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy - the birth among the Hebrews of a holy Prince and Deliverer of Man. Hastening to join three fellow Magi for the long journey into Judaea, he paused to help a dying man and was left behind. And so Artaban began his pilgrimage alone, striking out not toward the realization of his life's deepest longing, as he hoped, but only toward misfortune and suffering. Or so he believed until one blessed, radiant moment."