Lives, loves and ambitions in the Paris Commune
Comme une rivière bleue by Michèle Audin My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Comme une rivière bleue” was journalist Jules Vallès’s description of the collective excitement of many, probably most, Parisians on the day their long-dreamed of commune was made a reality, 28 March 1871. For Michèle Audin, the flow of the “blue river” is … read more »
Rhetorical surprise, multilayered memories
Nabokov’s Dozen: A Collection of Thirteen Stories by Vladimir Nabokov My rating: 4 of 5 stars Most of these stories are simple, more or less obvious tales of slight emotional impact, but constructed artfully and with exceptionally rich vocabulary and phrasing. They merit frequent re-readings — not because they are at all difficult to understand … read more »
Leviathan tragedy
Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars Overwhelming! Seems as huge as the great whale itself! That central story, Captain Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of the monster that has maimed him, is powerful in itself, but the impact of the book builds through all the many digressions and side stories which … read more »
Unresolved obsessions
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster My rating: 3 of 5 stars Three clever and deliberately unsatisfying mysteries are linked by their recurrent themes and character names. They are unsatisfying because their puzzles are not solved nor solvable, nor even completely comprehensible, though the speculations they provoke are entertaining. Each story features a male … read more »
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit. This last year has been one of many visits, as well as books read, plays and movies seen, friends and family embraced. We began with a return to Susana’s homeland, Argentina, terribly hot in January. There we met and feasted with her cousins in Puan— her birthplace, a … read more »