Top 5 Tuesday ~ Time Travel

Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan’s blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. I found this on Davida's Page @ The Chocolate Lady.

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This week’s topic is Time Travel. Meeghan says: "Ahh, the most outrageous travel of all - and the most unreal. Tell us about your fave books where the characters skip through time (or space). If you can’t think of any, a book that spans multiple eras will also do the trick."

I am neither a fan of fantasy nor science fiction. And that includes time travel. I have read a few over the years, though, so I can present you my favourites, well, sort of.

Fforde, Jasper "The Eyre Affair" - Der Fall Jane Eyre - 2001

Gabaldon, Diana "Outlander" (UK: Cross Stich) - Feuer und Stein, Teil 1 Highland Saga - 1991

Palma, Félix J.  "The Map of Time" (E: El mapa del tiempo) - 2008

Rosendorfer, Herbert "Letters Back to Ancient China" (GE: Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit) - 1983

Wells, H. G. "The Time Machine" - 1895

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⌛ Happy Reading! ⌛

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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.

Verghese, Abraham "The Covenant of Water"

Verghese, Abraham "The Covenant of Water" - 2023

A fantastic book. I always wanted to read "Cutting for Stone" but somehow never did. However, it has moved up on my wishlist and is at the top now.

"The Covenant of Water" is a wonderful story about a family over the length of most of a century. I have known quite a few priests from that area of India, Kerala, and this book is about the Catholics down there.

But that is only on the side. The most important part is the search of the family for the reason that so many of their members have drowned over the centuries. 

You can tell the author belongs to the medical profession because he reports about this quest in such detail that you can follow it so well, even if you have no medical training at all.

But we also get to learn about the society in that part of India. Part of it is like the rest of the country but since It is so large, it should be no surprise that it also has its differences.

Granted, this is a large book, over 700 pages, but I read this in no time, devoured it. I'm not surprised Oprah has picked it for her book club, she always choses great novels.

In any case, I can only recommend this.

From the back cover:

"From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning - and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl - and future matriarch, Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years."

And then there is a great remark about reading:
"When I come to the end of a book and I look up, just four days have passed. But in that time I've lived though three generations and learned more about the world and about myself than I do during a year in school Ahab, Queequeg, Ophelia, and others die on the page so that we might live better lives."

#ThrowbackThursday. July 2011 Part 1

I've been doing Throwback Thursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from the first week of July 2011.

Borchert, Wolfgang "Complete Works" (GE: Das Gesamtwerk) - 1945/47
Wolfgang Borchert is one of my favourite authors. His work is one of the most important in the so called "Rubble literature" (Trümmerliteratur) of post-war Germany. 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott "The Great Gatsby" - 1925
There was a lot said about society where I often thought, great that we don't have those problems any more. But do we?

Hosseini, Khaled "A Thousand Splendid Suns" - 2007
This is only one of many Afghanistan books I read with my book club over the years. Such an important subject. We had a lot of positive comments to this novel. Good story, gripping, difficult to put down, drew you into this subject, spirit of the human heart, how people can find pleasure and joy.

Oz, Amos "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (Hebr: סיפור על אהבה וחושך) - 2002

Amos Oz, was born in Jerusalem and grew up in the early days of the new state in a very academic family from Lithuania, one of the many families who had to flee Europe at the eve of the most terrible war ever.

He tells us about the early days of the new Jewish state and how he grew up, he also reminisces on the past of Jewish culture, literature, language and, more importantly, on his mother's depression and suicide. 

This is not just the story of a young man and his family, it's a saga about the whole Jewish people from Europe to Israel. Today even more important than twenty years ago.

Petterson, Per "Out Stealing Horses" (NO: Ut og stjæle hester) - 2003
Interesting story. A man reflects on his life. The novel starts in Norway's forests and it ends there. After his wife dies, a man goes back to a place he spent a summer in his youth. He is coming to terms with so many events in his life. Death, divorce, tragedies, growing up, growing old.

Read my original reviews, for the links click on the titles.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ International Travel

Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan’s blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. I found this on Davida's Page @ The Chocolate Lady.

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This week’s topic is International Travel. Meeghan says: "Whether it’s a fictional land or ours, let’s share all of those travels across countries, whether by sea, air, or land. You could even find a book where the characters jump over a border!"

I always used to like travelling, especially to foreigner countries. However, I didn't make it as far as many of the authors I read. But that makes it even more exciting. Today, I will take you from Europe (Norway, France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey) to Afghanistan, then along the border around Russia through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, after that around the United States and then to Iran. Have a good trip! 

Bryson, Bill "Neither Here Nor There. Travels in Europe" - 1991

Elliot, Jason "An Unexpected Light. Travels in Afghanistan" - 1999

Fatland, Erika "The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage" (NO: Grensen: En reise rundt Russland gjennom Nord-Korea, Kina, Mongolia, Kasakhstan, Aserbajdsjan, Georgia, Ukraina, Hviterussland, Litauen, Polen, Latvia, Estland, Finland og Norge samt Nordøstpassasjen) - 2017

Fry, Stephen "Stephen Fry in America" - 2009

Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in Iran: Revealing a Hidden World" (GE: Couchsurfing im Iran - Meine Reise hinter verschlossene Türen) - 2015

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✈🚂🚅 Happy Reading! 🚂🚅✈

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Top Ten Tuesday ~ Debut Novels

   

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". It was created because they are particularly fond of lists. It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is: Debut Novels

The choice was tough. There are so many different authors that I love and where I loved the debut novels.

Ali, Monica "Brick Lane" - 2003
Allende, Isabel "The House of the Spirits" (E: La casa de los espíritus) (The House of the Spirits #1) - 1982
Frazier, Charles "Cold Mountain" - 1997
Hosseini, Khaled "The Kite Runner" - 2003
Lessing, Doris "The Grass is Singing" - 1950
Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The Prince of Mist" (E: El príncipe de la niebla) - 1993
Rutherfurd, Edward "Sarum: the Novel of England" - 1987
Smith, Zadie "White Teeth" - 1999
Stockett, Kathryn "The Help" - 2009
Zusak, Markus "The Book Thief" - 2005

While some of them are not my favourites of the respective author, I still love them all.

📚 Happy Reading! 📚

🥐 Paris in July 2024 🥐

Welcome to another exciting month where we exchange reviews about books we read about Paris. Last year (2023), I posted the books I read where Paris is either the topic or at least part of the read and the books I read about France or the French language and the books I read last year for Paris in July.

I found the challenge at Lisbeth @ The Content Reader. Tamara @ Thyme for Tea has been hosting a Paris in July challenge for eleven years. Then, she hosted together with Deb @ Readerbuzz. In 2022, Emma @ Words and Peace kindly took over as the host and she continues to do so. The picture  at the top is also created by her.

I don't have a lot of energy to participate this year by reading new books about Paris, but I tried to take part through the Paris Bingo. I will try to add books etc. I have not used in any of the Paris in July years before (though it is hard and therefore cannot be entirely avoided).

PARIS in title
Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris" - 2013

FRANCE in title
Stein, Gertrude "Paris France" - 1940

BOOK set in France
Ernaux, Annie "The Years" (FR: Les années) - 2008

MOVIE set in France
Leroux, Gaston "The Phantom of the Opera" (French: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) - 1910

French FOOD
Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Farm" - 2001

French FASHION
Guiliano, Mireille "French Women Don’t Get Fat" - 2004

French MUSIC
Francis Cabrel "La Corrida"

French FLAG
Hugo, Victor "Les Misérables" (F: Les Misérables) - 1862

French HISTORY (not just French but funny)
Shaw, Karl "Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty" - 1999

TRAVELS in France
Mayle, Peter "A Year in Provence" - 1989

PLAY set in France
Ionesco, Eugène "Rhinoceros" (French: Rhinocéros) - 1957

OTHER!
Voltaire "Candide, or Optimism" (F: Candide, ou l'Optimism) - 1757

EIFFEL TOWER
Dorling Kindersley "Eyewitness Guide Paris" and "Top 10 Paris" - 2020

CROISSANT
I haven't read a book that has a croissant on my edition but I found one that has a croissant on the Portuguese one:

Clarke, Stephen "A Year in the Merde" - 2004 - Um Ano Em França

French ART
Chevalier, Tracy "The Lady and the Unicorn" - 2003

French LANGUAGE

Némirovsky, Irène "La Proie" [The Prey] - 1938

I am looking forward to seeing many posts by other Paris enthusiasts.

🥐 Joyeux Juillet 🥐