Winstons dad’s been to library

Its been while since I ve done a library loot post ,I ve been getting book from library but lot time I’ve left them unread and returned I manage to read all IFFP title but return a number of other books unread .So I choose some new books to get out and hopefully get to all these this time .

top row

Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin – A classic of post modern fiction satire the russian space programme ,sounds like a great mix to me .

Guilty by Anna Kavan – I think after reading Max’s  post on Ice by Kavan I fancied trying here books so there was ice and this one on the library shelves so I choose this one a Kafkaesque style as mark struggles with life after his father returns from the war

Let the wind speak by Juan Carlos Onetti The Uruguayan writer is someone I ve read once before so a return is due and this was his first novel written in Exile a looking back at his coming of age in Santa Maria

A few quick ones by P G Wodehouse – I m always mention Wodehouse as a writer I love as he makes me smile a bygone world of high jinx and care free lives ,then other day noticed I not reviewed a book by him on the blog so this collection of ten short stories which I ve not read shall be a great place to start .

Difficult loves by Italo Calvino Another short story collection must be robs influence on me .I want to try to read all Calvino’s  books so this is another one ticked of the list a collection from early on in his writing life stem from mid forties to early fifties .

Another part of the wood by Beryl Bainbridge Gaseklla is hosting a Bainbridge reading week after the success of the Spark week so I choose this one from 60′s a couple of families at war on holiday in Wales .Appealed as my first read by her .

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn A classic from 1600′s she was one of the first female writers this is about her visit to Surinam told from the point of view of a slave at the time he was a noble in his homeland and this helps him win respect of his english captors .

The Child by Jules Valles a french classic rather like great expectations but also with a dark realism ,be truthful I like the cover so picked it for that it made me smile .

A hunger artist by Franz Kafka I read all his novels and a collection of short stories in my twenties so saw this and not heard of the title before it is a collection of short stories bring together two of Kafka’s collection and some other stories ,yet more short stories .

The piano cemetery by Jose Luis Peixoto I read blank Gaze by Peixoto this is his latest book that came out last year Lazaro family make piano’s but one member of the family is also a marathon runner this is his story ,suitably quirky like blank gaze was .

Have you read any of these books ?

Libraries where does the future lay

Earlier this week we found out that the large department store in london Selfridge is due to open a library for seven weeks to run along side it’s book festival word ,word words .Here is the piece from the guardian .I remarked on twitter that it remind me of a scene from brief encounters where Celia Johnson talks about going to boots (a large chemist chain in the UK for those not from the UK ) ,Boots ran libraries ran from 1898 til 1960 ,people paid a few pennies for each book lent here is an article for info .Also there has been a library in the protest camps for the occupy movement has opened libraries ,here in london they’ve had a few well-known writers including Alan Bennett and donate their books to the cause .So are these signs of a movement with the current cut backs in local government spending here in the uk ,which has hit the UK library system hard with 500 libraries either closed or under threat 10% of UK total library system .As there is no bright light on the horizon with regards governmental  investment in fact there maybe more cuts ,so if we want people to access books that may not have the means or funds to buy them or a kid to read books we maybe need some new ideas like shops having libraries or communities banding together ,with uk literacy at 99% but the truth is one in five people have trouble reading .We need free access to books for the most of the population so even if they don’t want to read I m not a dreamer but if  they are there people have the chance to access them and borrow a book !!

How do you see the library system going ?

How is the economic situation affect libraries in your country ?

Bookish deeds a film and lend

well last night I had a great night at home with the Amanda but had two great bookish moments away from reading books the first was a film that was new to me that was on the sky premier film channel so a newish film it was called Eleanors secret ,a French Animation with english language soundtrack .We follow Natanael a seven year old boy that is afraid to read aloud and this is effecting his school work ,so on the way to his late aunts house where he spent many happy summers with her reading to him from her library of first editions fairy tales and classics .She left him this library and the secret that goes with it .I don’t have kids but I fell this is a film to inspire kids to read and to a book junkie like me was a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours with my darling wife .I m sorry I picked german trailer first as it much better than the english one I found gives better idea of the book .But have include the english one as well .

My second bookish event last night was minor but to me a thrill I borrowed my first e-book from our library system I didn’t know Derbyshire even  had a e library well we do it’s not terribly big but there is a number of books there I wanted to read but most were out on loan so I choose Arctic chill by Arnaldur Indridason as I have it on my shelves if I don’t finish it on my I pad in time .

Have you borrowed a e-book ?

What bookish things your discovered recently ?

Winston’s books and a visit for #savelibraries

Been a while since I posted books I ve got so done last few I ve got in last week or two .I manage to clear some library books as I always have my quota maxed out but had chance to get 8 books this time for a change .

Monseiur Pain By Roberto Bolano -

This is part of the ongoing translations of Roberto’s early novels a short novella ,A mystery book about a Peruvian poet ,this is the time Bolano changed from a poet to a prose writer .another for the Bolano challenge

While the women are asleep by Javier Marias -

Last year i got the first part of his your face tomorrow trilogy and never got to it so took it back to library ,this seems a better intro his first collection of short stories in a number of year ,characters on the edge of society.

Antipodes – Igacio Padila

Mexican writer ,the cover appealed and knew he was part of the crack movement that want to move latin american literature from the boom style .

The tree and other stories by Abdallah Al Nasser

Don’t know a lot about this writer but like short stories from Arabic ,,so thought I d give it a whirl ,he is from Saudi Arabia he currently live in london .

The character of rain by Amelie Nothomb

This short novella is told from the point of view of a two and half-year old and I thought be great to compare to the room that I want to read at some point this year .

Hidden camer by Zoran Zivkovic

This Serbian novel sounds wonderful a man is invited to a film show gets there and find he is the only one and the film is him on his lunch hour ,dark sounding this will do for my eastern European challenge .

Jia by Hyeiln Kim

A novel about North Korea ,It says it all based on true life accounts of growing up under an oppressive  regime ,I have another book I want about north Korea this caught my eyes as I scanned the shelves .

Lizka and her men by Alexander Ikonnikov

A new russian writer this follows a young women growing up under russia’s new freedoms ,spend time with a number of different men ,I like the cover of this and another for the Eastern European challenge.

The particular sadness of lemon cake by Amiee Bender

This is Bender’s new novel follows a young girl that finds she can sense people’s emotions via the food she eats this follows her to adulthood as she finds out how to cope with this unusual gift ,this was sent after a request from Harvey at windmill books .

Corrections by Thomas Benrhard

I ve been looking for a Bernhard for a while and happened on this at the local Oxfam ,the book is about a character similar to Wittgenstein driven mad by pure thought .

The Murder in the vicarage by Agatha Christie

This is a bargain from the shop the works ,a copy of the original crime club books ,this is the first Miss Marple book ,my Gran loved Christie so snapped this up .

Peter Camenzind By Herman Hesse

This is one of Hesse’s earlier novels I loved the Glass bead game and Steppenwolf ,so this Oxfam buy is great want to see what his earlier works were like and this book is semi autobiographical .

These come from the lovely Lila that has just started at Penguin these are four of the Mini classics for the 50th year of modern classics .The books consists of number of short stories by each writer .

Billiards at half past nine by Heinrich Boll

source - Library

Heinrich Boil was probably the best post war german writer ,he won the Nobel prize in 1972 .When I lived in germany in early nineties he was vert well known and on my return to the uk I read a couple of his books ,But late last year when I ordered from library found there wasn’t much in stock so choose this probably his best known book in germany .

Billiards at half nine is About a businessman Robert Fahmel  in Koln he is architect ,his secretary tells us about him and his habits ,but we are also told about his families history back to the 19th century a rich history ,We learn that Robert was opposed to the Nazis during the war and also about a conflict the host of buffalos and host of the lambs this is to all do with the church but in a greater sense harks back to the war and the battle of Nazism and pacifism during the war ,we also visit the battle of Kiev during the war .

Robert was not yet two and Otto not yet born ; I was on leave and for a long while had clearly known what I had once vaguely sensed ;that irony was inadequate and always would be inadequate ,that it was inly narcotic for the privileged, and I ought to have done what Johanna did ; I ought to have spoken to the boy ,in my captains’ uniform ,but I merely listened to him as he went on reciting .

Robert father in a flashback  in 1917 on return to home from fighting on-line in world war one .

I found this a tough little book to work through I felt as thou a secom=nd reading would help if I see a cheap copy I will pick it up it has a real depth and complex plot that has a lot of allusions to world war to but in some ways the struggle of religion in germany over history .Boll is a wonderful writer I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in german feelings post war its easy to see the main character as a   Heinrich boll he lives in Koln like Boll and is a similar age to Boll .Boll fought in the Wehrmacht in the second world war ,in Russia so the battle of Kiev scenes I would feel are Boll’s own experiences .The copy I had from library was a Jupiter edition from 1973 and was translated by Patrick Bowles .

 

Library cuts ,hope there not too bad

A piece in last weeks guardian about local government cuts mention that libraries are the soft belly to be cut .Well for me this would be a nightmare on a tight budget Library books make most of my reading material ,as I read some obscure titles my local library system and there online ordering is a god send for me .as with the book in the picture I watch a recent programme on Italian noir that evening ordered the book to borrow from library and picked up this week .My local library is a small sub library with friendly helpful staff and a good small selection ,my hope is this doesn’t get cut ,there is a large library in the centre of Chesterfield where I live this is one of the best stocks libraries in the UK due to its high rate of borrowing the fifth in the UK .but to get there is a bus ride and I don’t always have time to get there .so hoping my library that is five min walks from my house is kept .

ARE YOU GOING BE EFFECT BY THE CUTS ?

HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE YOUR LIBRARY ?

books this week

Here are some of the books this week a Winston towers .the first is a prize from twitter -

The prince of mist by Carlos Ruiz  Zafon -

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This is the first in a series of 4 young adult books that he wrote before shadow of the wind they were a huge success in his native spain .I enter a comp to win the book two bookmarks and poster on twitter by the lovely Nina Douglas the P.R for Orion books .

IN THE POST AND LIBRARY BOOTY -

The other day Simon over at savidge reads said he was missing Eva and her Vlog library post so am i ,well here is my library choices had few to take back -

from a good friend

There are five from the library they are The belly of paris by Zola I haven’t read any Zola in a while and like the look of this one about a man returning to find a changed paris in the 1850′s disgusted at the affluent rich in paris ,The twin Gerbrand Bakker win of the 3 percent translated fiction prize ,a book set in a remote part of Holland the story evolves round some twins and the death of one of them ,Human love by Andrei Makine story set in africa and about love ,communism and the cost of idealism ,sounds good and he has been compared to Proust and Nabokov the writer grew up in Siberia ,Blaugast by Paul Leppin a novel of decline it says on the cover published after the writers death set in Prague follows a bored clerk on a downward spiral ,settlement by Christoph Hein ,this book is up for the impac award and by the descriptions of the books on the list appeal to me ,Hein grew up in East Germany and is respected as on of the fore most voices in germany this book follows one man’s tale for 50 years as told through 5 of his friends .

 Now the other two books are via my fellow blogger and huge twitter friend Simon at insidebooks ,if you take advice on one blog to read that you may be don’t i d say Simons a hugely knowledgable blogger with similar tastes to my self .Tofu landing is from quartet and Simon did a great interview with the writer .the second book is Natascha by a writer born in Latvia that now lives in Canada ,the book follows russian Jews living in Toronto .

LIBRARY LOOT (AGAIN)

books books books

After reading the books i got a few weeks ago i decide to call in again return the books i ve read and found the translated fiction stand was still there so got a lot more books to read with a group of nights coming up ,i need some nice short novels to read every night .the books i got fit in to three categories

• japanese
• the sailor who fell from grace with the sea by Yukio Mishima -this reads a bit like lord of the flies mixed with peter pan and is part of the vintage east series .
• scandal by Shusaku Endo – this is probably japan’s second most well-known writer behind Murkami ,a catholic writer is accused of visiting ladies of the night most enter seedy Tokyo to face his own demons
• african
• The purple violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Adreas -a debut novel part of the Heinemann african writer series this book is about women and village life in Namibia ,which will be interesting i work with some one from Namibia .
• Neighbour the story of a murder by Lila Momple -a novel set in Mozambique about a raid from south africa and how it affects life this book is also from the African writer series .
• the beautiful screaming of pigs by Damon Galgut - A conversation on twitter remind me to seek this guy out a south african ,up and coming ,this was his breakthrough novel and strangely  also set partly on Namibia about a man facing his past and actions he has done .
• classics
• Le Bal by Irene Nemirovsky -I read suite franciase a few years ago ,this is set in the parsian society of the 1930′s about a girl trying to ruin her mother whom she hates
• the actual by Saul Bellow it must be ten years since i read a bellow a beautiful writer and one of the great post war american writers ,this is the story of Harry Trellman a complex character .

A great selection ,some new names and some old names .

book heaven

 Thought i d do a quick post about my book heaven well heavens really it is my local library system ,we have a great library in Chesterfield where you can always get one or two new gems that you’ve either seen on a blog or in a review .There is also a great on-line catalogue ,recent loans have been the Ali Shaw for the not the tv book club,Javier Marias and Manuel Puig all of  which i order for delivery to local library to me (Brimington library that is two mins walk from me) ,they usually take two to three days to be delivered from another library .they also got last years booker shortlist very quickly .

a picture of Chesterfield’s main library

Do you use your library ?