dely, old and wise through 2014

[Ahtims]

Oh , dely. Hope your next read is better .

[dely]

I hope it! This one was also very long, more than 1000 pages :-(

[dely]

63) Saturday Date by Ken Doyle 2/5

I received a free copy of this book by Ken, a member and author of this group.

It was an ok read: it wasn't bad but I can't say I liked it. It was too short to have a detailed view of the characters; these are like sketched and not analyzed in a proper or deeper way.

It is a very short story, set in Mumbai, that talks about Mary, a homeless woman, that sings to get alms for herself and her daughter. Mary has visions and from the few descriptions I suppose she sees the Virgin Mary. Thanks to these visions she has a wonderful voice and receives the alms. With her happenings we can see the behavior of society: there are bad people who hate beggars but also good people that are kind and help her. We also can understand that sometimes people can become beggars from one day to the other.

[dely]

64) Processo a Gesù by Diego Fabbri 4/5

No English edition but the title is "Jesus on Trial". It was first performed in 1955 and it had a lot of success also abroad; now it is forgotten also in Italy.

The play has two acts and it is metatheater. The actors perform again the trial to Jesus to see if he is guilty to be a faker or if he was the real Messiah. There are defenders and accusers and some witnesses of the time of Jesus, as the apostles and Pontius Pilate, the Virgin Mary and Joseph.
The trial goes from Jesus to people and their loss of faith. It is a critique to the loss of faith.
It was very interesting and it also applies to the present day.

For more informations in English here's a link: http://www.newropeans-magazine.org/co...

[dely]

65) 3/5

English edition: Lieutenant Gustl by Arthur Schnitzler

Another very short book, read this afternoon.
The book is a monologue, a stream of consciousness, by lieutenant Gustl. One evening he is insulted and seen that he wasn't able to respond to the injury and for him it was a dishonor, for the whole night he thinks about suicide.
It was a bearable stream of consciousness, I liked also how the story ended and the insight of this ridiculous and overbearing character.

[dely]

66) Bicchiere pieno e altri racconti by John Updike 2/5

This book has 4 short stories by John Updike: Marocco, The Guardians, The Accelerating Expansion of the Universe, The Full Glass.
They all deal with older people and their memories when they were young. The prose was good, didn't like a lot the writing style and the stories were a little bit sad, depressing and boring.

[dely]

67) Roquenval by Nina Berberova 3/5

Again a book about memories but also longing for the past. The story talks about a Russian young man who lived in Russia only his childhood because his parents moved to Europe. So he misses his country and is attached to his few memories of it.
For the summer holidays, when he is 19, he goes to the castle of the grandmother of a friend of him. She too is Russian and in this castle he sees a lot of objects that remind him of Russia. At the end he understands that it is useless to hold unto these memories and be nostalgic because life goes on and we can't live in the past.
This short story is very well written, a quiet poetic prose and though very short the author was able to look inside the emotions and thoughts of this guy.

[Ahtims]

Have never read Updike. Have plans to.

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "Have never read Updike. Have plans to."

For me it was just ok. My edition had 4 short stories that weren't bad but they weren't interesting for me. I don't think he's an author I want to re-read.

[Ahtims]

okay

[dely]

68) 1/5

English edition: The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

It is set in the Victorian time and the story talks about Sugar, a prostitute, who wants to get more from life. She is able to be loved by men for her "talents" but she is also intelligent and clever.
I couldn't relate to the characters, found the whole story annoying and it seemed to me that the author added a lot of useless details, didn't feel any emotions reading it and the end...well, it isn't an ending, I really felt mocked by the author after 900 pages. The book started very well and I liked that the author talked to the reader and I felt like a ghost that follows the many characters. After a while I was bored by the story and the end was a disappointment. Till the end it could have been an ok read, a 2 stars, but that ending was really irritating. I know a lot of people like this book but it wasn't for me.

I've read it for my "novel cure challenge" and this story should help for people who suffer from lack of ambition. Well, after reading the story of Sugar, a prostitute who wants to come out of her misery, I'm really glad I'm a person without amibtions or targets. I live my serene life day after day and by sure I would never behave like Sugar to have something more from my life.

[Ahtims]

another one to cross off. Thank you , dely, :D

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "another one to cross off. Thank you , dely, :D"

Perhaps you could like it. It has a high rating and a lot of people like it.

[dely]

69) 4/5

English edition: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

It's not the first Murakami I read so I was pretty sure to like this book. He is really able to bring the reader into the story; though magical and surreal things happen, you think everything could be true and real. The reader must just follow the flow, the happenings of the story without pretending to understand everything. Murakami's skill is exactly this: though there are unanswered questions, the reader doesn't care because he's living in a different reality, the one of the book. Thanks to Murakami's skill the reader enters another dimension where everything is possible.

Tomorrow I'll go to take part 3 of the story.

[Ahtims]

dely , feel like reading it. Have been postponing it for months
Perhaps in 2015.

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "dely , feel like reading it. Have been postponing it for months
Perhaps in 2015."

If you like him you won't be disappointed.
It was exactly what I needed in these busy days: a story to seek refuge from everyday tasks and responsibilities; a way to escape for a short time from reality.

[Ahtims]

Yes, I know what you mean. :D

[dely]

70) A book I've read for the beta-reading. I can't talk about the plot because perhaps the author wants to change something. It was a very good read, very well written with an interesting storyline that deals with today's problems. If I could rate it I would give 4* but it still hasn't been published so there isn't a bookpage on GR.

[dely]

71) 3,5/5

English edition: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The story ends in this book though it wouldn't be bad if there would be a book 4 to see how the life of the main characters goes on and what will happen next.
It was a good read but I liked it less than book 1+2 perhaps because there are less surreal things and everything turns around the private and inner life of the main characters. I was less involved by the happenings and there is less suspense.

[dely]

72) A Red Flower: A Story by Vsevolod Garshin 3*

It talks about a madman who wants to redeem the world from Evil and he thinks that all the evil is concentrated in three red flowers who grow in the garden of the madhouse.


72) Hide and Seek by Fyodor Sologub 4*

A short story about maternal love and about madness. Very well written, in a few words the reader could understand the feelings of the main character.


73) God Sees the Truth, but Waits by Leo Tolstoy 4*

Short story about a man who is wrongly accused of murder. He is sent for 26 years to a labor camp in Siberia and at the end the real murder arrives in the same camp.
A very touching story about forgiveness.


74) The Shades, A Fantasy by Vladimir Korolenko 3*

The story about Socrates, when he dies and goes to the gods of the Olympus. The main theme of the story is the research of truth.


All these stories are very short and written by Russian authors; I've read them for a group read in another group.

[Ahtims]

Nice ones, dely.

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "Nice ones, dely."

Thanks. I had to read the last one twice because for me it was in a very difficult English and it was impossible to find an Italian translation. But I did it! :D

[Ahtims]

Great :-)

[Carol]

dely wrote: "71) 3,5/5

English edition: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The story ends in this book though it wouldn't be bad if there ..."
I want to read a Murakami book, so would you recommend 1 or 2?

[dely]

Carol wrote: "dely wrote: "71) 3,5/5

English edition: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The story ends in this book though it wouldn't be ..."

If you want to read 1Q84 then you must start with book 1 (there are also editions that have all the three books).
Among the books by Murakami I've read till now I've preferred Kafka on the Shore because there are much more surreal events. Till now it's my favorite but I haven't read all his books. In Kafka on the Shore there is much more magical realism so it depends on you if you like it or not. If you don't like it then read Norwegian Wood. Also in 1Q84 there is magical realism but less than in Kafka on the Shore.

[Carol]

Thank you Dely.I will try Norwegian Wood.

[dely]

Carol wrote: "Thank you Dely.I will try Norwegian Wood."

I hope you will like it. Will wait for your opinions ;-)

[dely]

75) Her Lover by Maxim Gorky 2,5*

A very short story about loneliness. I liked the writing style but the story was too short to have a view of the inner life of Teresa, the main character. It's a pity.

[dely]

Books and pages 2014:

76 books (one is a recipe book I didn't add in this discussion)

22305 pages read

Longest book read: Kristin Lavransdatter with 1,117 pages

Best books of the year:
The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels by Ágota Kristóf
The Life Before Us: "Madame Rosa" by Romain Gary
Il sangue di san Gennaro by Sándor Márai
Job by Joseph Roth
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

[Ahtims]

dely, congratulations on completing a profitable reading year.
I have to update mine, now.

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "dely, congratulations on completing a profitable reading year.
I have to update mine, now."

Thanks. I wasn't that satisfied from my 2014 reading year. I've read only a few really good books and I have a lot of 3, 2 and 1 stars.

[Ahtims]

hopefully 15 is better for us both.

[dely]

PSmith wrote: "hopefully 15 is better for us both."

I hope it!