I had wanted to be a writer. But after the events I am about to describe, I studied engineering geology and became a building contractor. This was my first Orhan Pamuk. I had fairly high expectations. To say I was underwhelmed is an understatement. We start with a young man, fatherless for all intents and … Continue reading The Red-Haired Woman | Orhan Pamuk #ReadtheNobels
Committed Writings by Albert Camus contains Letters to a German Friend, Reflections on the Guillotine and The Nobel Speeches (Acceptance Speech and Create Dangerously) with a Foreword by Alice Kaplan. Books come into my life for all sorts of reasons. Before working in a bookshop, I bought books for myself very deliberately and carefully. I … Continue reading Committed Writings | Albert Camus #FRAnonfiction
On the 2nd March 2021, Faber & Faber in the UK, Alfred A. Knopf in the US, Knopf in Canada and Allen & Unwin in Australia will publish Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, Klara and the Sun. This is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, … Continue reading Klara and the Sun | Kazuo Ishiguro #ReadtheNobels
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
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
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
I have no idea what I'm going to say about this book.I finished it on Sunday night but I'm not sure if I can tell you what it was about, because I'm still trying to work it out for myself!This book reminds me of Possession by A.S. Byatt in that I know enough to know that I … Continue reading The Childhood of Jesus by J. M. Coetzee
Another day; another challenge.Another book challenge that is.Like the Orange Prize Project, Reading the Nobels has no time limit and it allows me to combine books and authors from other challenges. A win-win situation.In the list below I've only read 8 of the authors, so I've got a bit to do to catch up!But I … Continue reading Read the Nobels
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