I don't know what to tell you about. Death or love? Or is it the same thing. What should I tell you about?... Prologue: A Lone Human Voice I'm so very glad I read Chernobyl Prayer. I really appreciate the type of history Svetlana Alexievich has captured in her books. It's oral history, or more … Continue reading Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future | Svetlana Alexievich #ReadtheNobels
His mother waited upstairs while the servants took coats and scarves and hats from the guests. Some books are not easy to review. If you had asked me a couple of month ago, I would have said, unreservedly, that I was a fan of Colm Tóibin, particularly his Irish stories, since that is all I … Continue reading The Magician | Colm Tóibin #IRLfiction
Marie Curie is one of my personal heroes. Ever since my Year 12 science depth-study on her, (which incidentally helped me to top the class and receive my one and only first-in-class medal) I have been constantly drawn to her story. As part of my depth-study research, I read Ève Curie's bio about her mother, … Continue reading Marie Curie & Her Daughters | Imogen & Isobel Greenberg
What does one read during a pandemic that has changed the way we all live our lives? The Plague (La Peste) by Albert Camus of course! This existentialist (or absurdist, depending on who you talk to) classic from 1947 presents us with the day to day changes that occurred in a small city in Algeria … Continue reading The Plague | Albert Camus #ReadtheNobels
Goodness! What a read. Or more accurately, a reread. I bought my Penguin edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude on the 3rd April 1996 in Sydney. At a guess, it must have been the Easter school holidays and I was visiting my sister, who lived in Coogee, for a few days. I cannot remember … Continue reading One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel Garcia Márquez #NobelPrize
Some People a poem by Wislawa Szymborska was referenced in my most recent read, The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay. The epigraph used the final stanza of the poem. Poem Hunter allowed me to read the poem in it's entirety. Some people fleeing some other people.In some country under the sunand some clouds. They leave behind … Continue reading Some People | Wislawa Szymborska #poetry
As many of you know, I'm slowly, very slowly, making my way through the Nobel Prize winners. April is poetry month in America, so I thought I would use this opportunity to focus on one of the poets on my Nobel list.Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (24 April 1845 – 29 December 1924) was a Swiss … Continue reading Happy Birthday Carl Spitteler!
I'm (very) slowly making my way through the Nobel Prize winners. Reading the Nobel's hasn't been as enlightening as I had first hoped. I'm still trying to work out why. So I thought I'd start at the very beginning to see if that helps.It turns out that Alfred Nobel's family contested his will after he … Continue reading Sully Prudhomme – Poet
...that I, for one, am thrilled and delighted that Kazuo Ishiguro has been named this year's Nobel Prize for Literature recipient.The Nobel Prize in Literature 2017 was awarded to Kazuo Ishiguro "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".I loved and adored The … Continue reading Just Saying…
Nelly Sachs was born on the 10th December 1891 in Schoneberg, an affluent area of Berlin, to a wealthy Jewish German family.She grew up in a very protective family.Mental health issues affected her throughout her life in the form of hallucinations, paranoia, mutism and various other breakdowns.She spent a number of years in mental institutions, … Continue reading Nelly Sachs – Poet & Nobel Laureate
His Bloody Project has been shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It was a surprise inclusion to my mind. Historical crime fiction?But, as it turned out, I loved it.It's a psychological thriller as opposed to a detective story. The crime - victims and perpetrator - are presented straight up. The unfolding story reveals the how … Continue reading His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
The Home and the World is a classic of Indian literature published in 1916 by Rabindranath Tagore. It was translated into English in 1919 by his nephew Surendranath Tagore. For a summary of the book, details about Tagore's life and fascinating personal insights about life in India now, please see Cirtnecce's fabulous wrap up post … Continue reading The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
I wasn't sure I was going to make it in time to join in this wonderful The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore readalong being hosted by Cirtnecce @ Mockingbirds, Looking Glasses and Prejudices during August.I've been reading a couple of books this past week or so and I was determined to finish them before starting any … Continue reading The Home and the World Read Along
You know that something special is coming your way when you start noting down & highlighting quotable lines on page one of a new book. The story begins in New York. Catherine is an elderly woman watching her daughter teach a dance class. She notices a young girl wearing glasses. The young girl carefully places … Continue reading Catherine Certitude by Patrick Modiano
Yasunari Kawabata won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968 "for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind" He was born in 1899 in Osaka, Japan and died April 1972. His work has been described as "lyrical, subtly-shaded prose" by Wikipedia. "The novel may be interpreted as a meditation … Continue reading The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
bronasbooks.com 