Eva

The simple life on a tiny island on the Norwegian coast, at the beginning of the last century. A father, a mother, a sister, a grandfather and a daughter. The catching and drying of fish, the tying of fishing nets, the tending to the various vegetable gardens, the occasional boat trips to the mainland, to shop and trade essentials. Life on the island is pretty self-sustaining, there's a clean math as to how much work everyone needs to do, in order for all of them to have enough to survive. Yet life also evolves, and one has dreams to either improve the island, or to get off the island.

I am a fan for books that focus on the beauty of the simple life, and this one did a great job.

I really enjoyed Filipenko's [b:Der ehemalige Sohn 56935879 Der ehemalige Sohn Sasha Filipenko https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612353756l/56935879.SY75.jpg 41321441], so i was going into this with maybe too high expecations. This is the story of a Russian football player, his corrupt oligarch father, the journalist who investigates the father, the criminal who bullies the journalist and the criminal's pianist brother. So, potentially an interesting setup, yet the parts are all very segmented and uneven, and even though it all ties together in the end, it really left me frustrated. As the whole subject matter is really dark, I either could have used a more central sympathetic character to connect to, or the whole thing should have gone even more dark satire. Or maybe I've just had too much Russian fiction and reality for a now.

Investigative journalism looking at the financial corporation that's turning into the evil shadow mastermind of our times. BlackRock, the world's largest investment manager, controls around 10% of the world's wealth. It controls so many mutual funds and retirement portfolios, that BlackRock has an important voice on most shareholder meetings. If countries go bankrupt, they hire BlackRock to analyse their books. Their super software Aladdin calculates investment risks and advises clients on investment decisions. Those clients are banks, countries, insurance companies, pension funds. And because BlackRock is ubiquitous, their investment propositions are usually for stock they also co-own. No matter the financial transaction, BlackRock gets a cut.

They manage to amasses more and more power in this financial luftschloss that's full of loopholes and ripe for a systemic overhaul. Because they operate outside of clear regulations somehow, they seem to get away with it so far.

I don't understand an iota of what's going on in the financial industry, so this was my foray into trying to scratch at the surface. The book is well researched and also easy to follow, but sometimes it became too dense for me, with too much name-calling and too many numbers.

L'histoire de Telumee et de ses ancetres femelles qui vivent sur l'islan Guadeloupe qui a fui son passe colonial et sa esclavage il n'ya pas longtemps. Nous suivons la vie de Telumee dans un monde qui a un rhythme impregne de nature, d'esprits, d'histoires et de tradition folkloriques.

Telumee grandit avec sa grand-mere, la sage Reine Sans Nom, elle tombe ameureuse, elle travaille pour un proprietaire de plantation blanche, elle travaille dans les champs de canne a sucre, elle apprend la medecine traditionelle. Elle aime la vie, et elle doit lutter contre de nombreux obstacles, rencontre le desespoir et la folie. Mais elle l'emporte, et ce livre devient une belle ode a l'esprit des femmes.

Parfois les expressions etaient trop lyriques pour mon niveau de francais, mais surtout cette histoire etait tres belle.

C'est un roman sur l'identité sexuelle, la confusion et les pouvoirs qu'elle apporte, et aussi un roman sur la narration et la facon dont les histoires interagissent avec leurs narrateurs et leurs auditeurs.

Une histoire est racontee par un conteur sur un espace de marche tres frequente a Marrakech.
Au Maroc, une huitieme fille nait dans une famille sans fils. Le pere insiste pour elever la fille comme un garcon, pour sauver la face dans une societe qui est construit uniquement autour des hommes.

L'efant vit les avantages que la culture musulmane attribue aux hommes. Mais quand il/elle grandit, des questions sur l'identite, la verite et le desir se posent.

Maintenant, l'histoire se divise et nous entendons plusieur voix qui ont chacune entendu parler de differentes fins de cette histoire. Certains sont violent, certains sont plus calmes. Pourtant, ni l'un ni l'autre ne donne une fin heureuse car c'est une histoire de tragedie dans l'ame. L'histoire devient malleable et guidee par les croyances et les souhaits du conteur.

Tres fascinant, questionnant les normes societales misogynes, et ce qui s'est passe lorsque nous supprimons notre veritable identite. Je n'arretais pas de penser que j'aimerais lire une version de ceci ecrite par une femme.

A life that's defined by its beginning and ending, and a lack thereof in the middle? Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood when I read this ‘very Baricco' Baricco novella.

820+ pages des suedois traduit a francais, c'etait mon plus long roman francais de petit dejeuner a ce jour la. Beacoup d'effort, mais j'etais tres engage avec les vie et les amours et les tragedies de ce groupe d'amis homosexuels vivant a Stockholm dans les annees 1980.

C'est un grand roman sur la difficulte du sortir du placard quand tout le monde et toute ta famille ne comprendront pas. Et c'est la chronique de l'arrivee destructrice du sida dans Suedois, comment une communaute deja detestee de public a recue encore plus de haine et de mauvais traitements.

Meme en ne lisant que 10 pages maximum par jour, l'ecriture m'a fait pleurer plusieurs fois. Je pense que Rasmus, Benjamin, Paul, Bengt et Reine resteront longtemps avec moi.

Der Böhmische König Alobar entflieht dem mitteralterlichen rituellen Königstod und macht sich zusammen mit der Inderin Kudra auf die Entdeckung der Unsterblichkeit. Ein Parfüm, das den Gestank des Ziegengottes Pan übertönen soll, wird zum Objekt der Begierde neuzeitlicher Geruchsspezialisten.

Un roman graphic qui documente les experiences d'immigres maghrebins (d'Algerie, Maroc, Tunisie) en France. C'est une experience similaire a l'immigration ailleurs, mais elle est compliquee du fait que ces pays ont ete colonises par la France, et beaucoup d'immigres ont combattu dans la guerre pour la France, et ont ete importes pour un travail d'usine bon marche, tout en rencontrant la xenophobie, le racisme et la discrimination religieuse de la part des Francais. Quand devient le pays - ou vous ne vous sentez jamais bienvenu - votre pays?

Tres interessant and tres touchant, j'aime beaucoup ca.

A researcher in isolation in the dark North of Norway, observing the influence of the climate on the local bird population. While she finds comfort in the tools and measurements of science, she slowly unwinds to deal with the relationships she fled from, and is fascinated then haunted by the history of the place.

I really liked parts of this: the isolation, the nature, the tale from the past, the theme of men vs women. And I felt indifferent about other parts: her old and her new relationship, the occasional explicit sexual descriptions. But the main problem is, that all these parts never fully clicked together, in my opinion.

A portrait of a little rural town with a dark past, on the border between Austria and Hungary. Small events on the precipice of the fall of the iron curtain lead several inhabitants of Dunkelblum to unearth secrets and lies that the older generation seems to have agreed upon to take to their graves. Like in a mystery with a huge cast of characters, the narration sweeps across time and families, lays out the story in puzzle pieces that you're meant to fit together, before sweeping by again to help you along the way.

I had a good time listening to this. Yes, there were a LOT of characters, and it was tricky remembering who is who, but the way Menasse circled back on people and storylines made it seem that you don't necessarily needed to keep track of everything. That one could just go with the flow. Enjoy the narration, enjoy the masterful language, the dark humor. And Menasse for sure has a way with words.

The audiobook narration by the author was wonderful, she obviously perfectly communciated the wry humor of her text.

This book and its heroine - “Die Kleine”/Juli/Juliane - effortlessly charmed its way into my heart. A childhood in the Austrian mountains during and after WWII. Despite the influx of evacuees and a general scarcity of food and money, it is still a childhood full of wonder, adventures and shenanigans. Juliane's story from birth to early adolescence, the revolving door of nannies, her loyal animal friends, the complexities of a large hotelier family, supply the content for a flow of memories and little vignettes (occasionally reminding me of [b:The Summer Book 79550 The Summer Book Tove Jansson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390613592l/79550.SY75.jpg 76813]). Throughout it all, Frischmuth sprinkles amusing nods at the local dialect.

This was everything I expected and more. It's an erotic tale of a woman and a bear, it won a big Canadian literary award in the 70ies and since then has been a forgotten controversy or maybe a well-kept secret. It's resurfacing again now, hopefully reaching proper cult novel status. Just googling the cover art for this book is worthwhile. It's not just about a sexual encounter between woman and bear, it's about solitude, romanticism (the poets), wilderness, colonization, feminism, sexual freedom, and the reinvigoration of one's spirit.

Wonderfully dynamic, fun, dark, full of memorable characters. I enjoyed how important the rough unpolished character of Montenegro's people, landscapes and cultures are to the novel and also its protagonists. A family story, a story of women, of resilience, of forgiving, of second and third lives, of a country going through war and transforming. There's a ladies' grave that doesn't fill in the right order, there's a love story that keeps you guessing. In the center of it all is Catherine, our heroine, who's the rock for those around her.

A charming story with fairytale qualities, set in the 13hundreds in a Swiss village. A coming-of-age story of a boy who encounters cast of diverse lovely, wacky, superstitious characters and figures out his passion in life on the way - storytelling.

It´s a story about storytelling where emotions are not named but presented to you in form of a story. It´s a story about the power of stories and how stories can entertain, can help heal, can instigate trouble and can build legends.

The book has a wonderful flow and was a great companion despite it´s substantial length.

A dark fever dream of a book that explores an eerie devilish bird cult, as 4 members of a family (1 father and 3 adult children) separately get in contact with it. Dark blinking eyes, old myths and scary tales, children having nightmares of birds, the mystery of a painting covering another painting, an unpleasing yet hypnotic person making an appearance in each story...

Die Geschichte folgt Hannah, einem schuechternen Maedchen, dessen groesster traum heirat und stabilitaet darstellt. Ihre familienverhaeltnisse sind zerruettet, da die unergruendlichen
wutausbrueche ihres vaters die mutter dazu bringt, mit den beiden toechtern wegzugehen. Hannah hat lange keine beziehung, langen keinen ersten kuss. Sie verfolgt die vielen beziehungen ihrer gleichaltrigen kusine fig mit, und verliebt sich in die grosse liebe ihres lebens, henry, figs freund. Eine reihe von beziehungen: Mike, der zu aufmerksam und zusehr in sie verschossen ist, Oliver, ein sex-abhaengiger, der sie staendig hintergeht. Am ende zieht sie nach Chicago wegen Henry, eine intime Freundschaft entsteht, doch Henry ist in einer Beziehung. Er haelt Hannah nahe bei sich, sie gesteht ihm ihre liebe, er gesteht auch etwas zu empfinden, kann aber nicht ueber die grenze springen. Sie steht im trotzdem treu zur seite, bis er plotzlich mit seiner freundin schluss macht, und mit einer 19jaehrigen ein kind bekommt. Da reisst sie aus, geht nach new mexico und beginnt endlich ein leben fuer sich. das nicht von maennern bestimmt ist.

A gem of a story, that is quiet and unhurried, yet never boring. We spend a winter and a summer with Sergej, an elderly apolitical beekeeper who mostly prefers the company of his bees to those of his fellow humans. His village is nearly deserted due to the ongoing war in the Donbass. Only he and his childhood enemy, now frenemy, are left. They occasionally drink and quarrel or commiserate, but mostly stick to themselves, worrying about coals for the winter, and which neighbor-house will be hit next by bombs. Then, at the onset of spring, Sergej decides to drive his bees to greener more secure pastures.

Kurkov finds the perfect tone, I think.

I am not sure I could sleep on bees though.

A fantastic look at what it's like to be an allophone immigrant in a Quebec that is continuously occupied with language infights between its francophone and anglophone communities. That conflict is so rooted in its population, that anything language related becomes a hot button issue. And while Canada likes to praise itself for its multicultural values and welcoming attitude towards immigrants, recent political turns has Quebec closing up its borders even more.

Drimonis makes a wonderful case that multicultural histories, values, traditions ultimately enrich a society instead of diluting it. All one's different identities are layers and not fractions, contributing to a multi-lingual, more diverse and therefore richer community.

Canada is quite a new country, founded on immigration (and conveniently likes to forget the indigenous languages its British and French colonizers drowned out). Learning how to integrate and empathize with immigrants, how to avoid to ‘other' them, is a important challenge for many other older nations as well.

Fantastic book, very Montreal. Let me go out and buy my own copy now.

In 1972 the West Bank has been under Israeli occupation for 5 years. A son returns home with the intention to help liberate his country. Yet what he encounters are family and friends, who have learned to live under the occupation out of necessity. Their only option for making a living is to work in factories in Israel. Which is seen as a great shame to the youth, who idolizes imprisoned freedom fighters.

A portrait of the struggles of conscience and survival, for a nation under occupation. Written nearly 5 decades ago. While, almost nothing has changed since then.

Un avion traverse un tempete et atterrit a New York en mars. Trois mois plus tard, en juin, le meme avion - avec les memes passagers a bord - atterrit a nouveau. Et tous les passagers pensent que nous sommes encore en mars. Le monde est confronte a plus de 200 sosies et a un phenomene inexplicable.

A la fois thriller international et etude de personnages, car il examine les gens et leur vie individuelle et comment ils reagissent a la presence d'une autre version d'eux. Etes-vous jaloux que une autre rivalise pour l'amour de votre famille? Etes-vous hereux de trouvers enfin quelqu'un qui partage vos secretes? Etes-vous pret a apprendre des trois mois d'experience de votre sosie? Etes-vous menace par votre double parce que vous ne pouvez exister qu'une fois?

J'ai le trouve une histoire fascinante, meme si c'etait un peu insatisfaisante qu'il n'y ait pas de conclusion.

Ein junger Autor wohnt in der Wohnung ueber Holly Golightly, einer 19 jaehrigen Partyprinzessin, die von den Geschenken und Gaben ihrer aelteren Maennerbekanntschaften lebt. Als vierzehnjaehrige hat sie mit ihrem Bruder als Landstreicher gelebt, bevor sie den um vieles aelteren Doc kennenlernt und heiratet. Doch von einer Hollywoodkarriere traeumend rennt sie davon. Der Autor beobachtet und befreundet sich mit ihr waehrend eines ereignisreichen Jahres. Holly agiert als Botschafterin fuer einen inhaftierten Mafiaboss, wird erwischt und entflieht schliessliche mit einem Ticket nach Brasilien. Danach wird sie nie mehr gesehen, bis ein afrikanische Statue, mit verblueffender Aehnlichkeit, den mittlerweile erfolgreichen Autor an seine fruehe Liebe erinnert.

Got a quarter into the audiobook, was initially charmed but have since grown somewhat bored and annoyed. Could be the narrator's fault. Won't finish.

Loved this, but accidentally deleted my review.

Vie dans un pensionnat pour des eleves feminines au source de Nil au Rwanda. C'est dans les années 70 et le conflit entre les hutus et les tutsis a inonde le pays et a atteint l'ecole. Les filles qui sont les filles de personnalites militaires ou gouvernementales importantes, meprisent les 2 filles tutsies que le quota du gouvernment exige peuvent frequenter l'ecole.

Tandis que la tension monte, le livre decrit une serie de vignettes a l'ecole, avec des jeunes professeurs francaises, un blanc obsede qui croit avoir trouve la tombe d'une reine egyptienne, des voyantes, la dame qui vit avec les gorilles, et une statue d'une vierge marie noire.

Pas l'histoire typique de l'internat pour des filles. C'est formidable et triste.