Great Reads
In this section I will show my collection of great great reads. I always tend to choose the romantic, weird and emotional books, so I hope you enjoy this melancholy book recommendation.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
What an interesting read. A book written about grief, heartbreak, a love long lost that accidentally got found, friendship, unfaithfulness, trust and unsureness. This book has got everything.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being is about a relationship that is held on by a thin thread. He loves her very dearly, she loves him back, but is haunted by her inner thoughts and dreams. or should I say nightmares?
I would recommend this for those who like slow paced reads with a lot of detail hidden inside. It is for those who enjoys mystery and brilliance.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and I am glad I took he time to read it.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
by Joan Didion
Oh Joan,
How I have longed to read your work, and I am so glad I started this endeavor with
Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
Didions writing was everything I imagined it would feel like to read. This book is about Joan´s journey through America in the sixties as a young journalist looking for answers for the ongoing discussion of teenagers at the time. I am talking about sex, drugs and rock&roll. It is so interesting reading about others experiences throughout their lives and what they faced during those times.
Joan Didion, I am looking forward to reading each and every book you have written.
I could not recommend enough.
A Girl´s Story
by Annie Ernaux
I truly, and highly recommend Annie Ernaux work. Her way of writing makes you dive into a world of possibilities and inspiration. It is not a wonder that she won the Noble Prize in Literature just by writing about her own life. That says something about her stories.
My pen exploded on the page. It left a mark.
Writing mostly autobiographies and memoirs is such a bold way of letting others know you. To hold a book in your hand is to hold the authors heart.
A Girl´s Story is about shame and desire, and what girls 50 years ago had to endure to be who they are. I read this book in one go on the plane to Paris, and I finished the last page whilst landing. It was a breath of fresh air.
What can I say? Read Annie Ernaux work!
The Years
by Annie Ernaux
What a remarkable author Annie Ernaux is. She writes about the true stories of life and it is a true joy reading her perspective of the world.
A true french lady.
The Years is about Ernaux´s life, and what she have done throughout 1941-2006. She is known for her stunning memoirs and her way of thinking in another time. Such an inspirational read. You cannot say too much about her work, for you have to read it to believe it.
I highly recommend.
Madonna In A Fur Coat
by Sabahattin Ali
If you like a love story that ends tragically, is short and utterly romantic. This is for you. Madonna In A Fur Coat is a love story based in Turkey and Germany. The book is written in a way that you read the journal of the man who the love story is based upon. He writes in a way that makes you captivated by the minute you begin to read, and the book itself is very light read. It has a little over a hundred pages so you finish the book quite quick.
You follow Raif, a Turkish student who moves to Berlin in his early twenties to learn the art of soap making. All his life he has been determined and mesmerized by the arts. Wether its poetry, artwork, music, he is all eyes and ears. Raif finds a gallery with abstract art, and he stumble upon a self-portrait of a beautiful dark haired girl with a fur coat. He get captivated the second he sets his eyes on this delicate creation. After his meeting with this pretty portrait, he visits it everyday to gaze upon this fairytale of a woman, Maria.
The love story about Raif and Maria is a sweet encounter of a young love lost. They lost it the minute they got it, and Days, Months, Years go by as their love lingers between the veil of missed opportunities.
A must read for those who want to cry and feel the yearning of a love that is wept away. Short enough to devour, a story long enough to hold on to.
The Lover
by Marguerite Duras
I finished this book in a day. I devoured it. The Lover is about a young girls introduction to womanhood. It is a discreet autobiography of Marguerite Duras’s life in Indochina where she was born, where she met and parted with her Lover. She writes in a quite comforting way as if she told me the story directly and I really liked that.
I found the book interesting more than romantic. It is strange how our expectations can fool us at times when we so badly want to try something. She sadly used the man who loved her with all his heart for his money and the pleasure he gave her.
A delicate girl with a dangerous mind.
Slow days, fast company; The world, The flash, and LA.
by Eve Babitz
Eve Babitz is known for her unique way to write about all the people she know, have known, want to know. There is nothing left behind and every sentence, every chapter is beyond real. She is witty, hot, and an incredible writer. Babitz is known for the way she dressed, spoke and behaved. It is a real treat reading her books.
I recommend this book for those who like feminine and gossipy books, and for those who like the story of the romance between a girl and a city. I will say that the book is somewhat a love story in its whole, since its a collection of stories she tells in between the chapters of a man she tries to seduce. It does not matter if she gets the man or not throughout the pages, for in the end, she wrote him a book.
I cried, I laughed, I smiled. What more can I ask for?
It was a true joy to read. I highly recommend!
Valerie and her week of wonders
by Vítězslav Nezval
Where to begin? This book of Czech Surrealism and medieval inspiration was more than satisfactory. The language of poetry, the metaphors, the song of it all. I have little words, but so plenty for this book, it moved me in a way that seemed familiar. My love for Eastern European writing grew more by reading this delight and I can not wait for my journey forward.
It is about a seventeen year old girl named Valerie that experience her first menstruation. The girl lives with her grandmother in a pretty village with a beautiful church in the center. There is a boy, Orlik, and a vampire that dresses up as a bobcat (and a priest). Blood, love and the deep friendship of two girls.
Love. Love. Love.
I recommend this book for those who like weird and short books. It is sensual, emotional, romantic. I hope those who read it will find it beautiful as well and that surrealism do not have to be disturbing.
How beautiful is this?
