Lavinia

Am citit [b:Prin perdea|6922470| Prin perdea|Aurora Liiceanu|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1254217492s/6922470.jpg|7150944] acum cîțiva ani, victimă a unei recenzii bune ce sînt, și mi-a plăcut destul de mult. Recunosc că am uitat în totalitate stilul (sau lipsa lui) autoarei, m-a interesat informația.

Am primit cartea cadou și m-am apucat imediat de ea, pentru că e subțirică și scrisă cu un font generos (și-am lăsat-o baltă pe Amy Tan care scrie infinit mai bine, dar na...). Citisem deja care e premisa cărții - două versiuni ale feminității, ilustrate prin viețile lui Hadley Richardson, prima soție a lui Hemingway (supusa) și Zelda Fitzgerald, unica soție a lui Scott (rebela) - știam și că autoarea face o mulțime de referiri la [b:The Paris Wife|8683812|The Paris Wife|Paula McLain|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320545874s/8683812.jpg|13556031], dar, DAR, nu mi-am imaginat că va povesti întreaga carte, ca un școlar căruia i se cere să facă un comentariu la romanul X. Și cînd spun școlar și comentariu, chiar vreau să subliniez că AL nu depășește stadiul ăsta. OK, e drept, are ceva bibliografie la bază, pe care o menționează clar la început, dar, DAR, lipsa stilului e atît de pregnantă, frazele care introduc un subiect pentru a fi imediat abandonat în paragraful următor atît de enervante, încît te întrebi ce-o fi fost în capul editorului cînd a acceptat să-i publice cartea. Intuiesc aici două posibile explicații: a) notorietatea autoarei și b) un an fast pentru tot ce ține de Fitzgerald (și Hemingway, prin asociere) - o nouă versiunea cinematografică a [b:The Great Gatsby|4671|The Great Gatsby|F. Scott Fitzgerald|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361191055s/4671.jpg|245494], plus cîteva cărți dedicate cuplului Scott-Zelda, lucru care, prin extensie, ar putea fi un avantaj pentru cartea Aurorei Liiceanu și implicit a editurii.

S-ar putea să mă înșel, îmi doresc să mă înșel, dar, citiți [b:The Paris Wife|8683812|The Paris Wife|Paula McLain|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320545874s/8683812.jpg|13556031] pentru a o cunoaște pe Hadley și relația ei cu Hemingway, citiți romanele lui Scott și multele cărți dedicate Zeldei pentru a o cunoaște pe ea. Ce face AL e să povestească (foarte slab!) viețile celor două, întîmplări care au avut loc sau se presupune că, și foarte, foarte puține observații (psihologice) personale și comparații între cele două - lucru la care eu mă așteptam, evident, de la un psiholog.
Deci nu dați banii.

I'm so excited about discovering Rob Sheffield, I can't even begin to tell you. For the first time in years, I didn't find about the book on websites, blogs, magazines or friend recommendations, I just stumbled upon it and decided I wanted to read it. OK, truth be told, it was his other book, [b:Talking to Girls About Duran Duran One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut|7515197|Talking to Girls About Duran Duran One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut|Rob Sheffield|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347577948s/7515197.jpg|9721697] that caught my eye first, but however...

I never made a mix tape. Because I was never into making them, you know, the time and effort put into selecting the songs, plus I don't think I owned enough music to do that, or the equipment. But I had mix tapes made for me, and I still remember songs from those cassettes, and later I had mix CDs made for me, and I might still have some CDs my husband made for me years ago, when he wasn't even my boyfriend and I listened to them and tried to figure out how he was like and the whatnot.

OK, so I really liked the book and I took it to Twitter to let Rob know that. (Stalk much?) I just needed him to know that I do remember KLF's Justified and Ancient, because in the 9th grade one of my colleagues was obsessed with it. And while I'm here, I might just say that I'll probably never see music with the same eyes again, since I tend to be so picky when it comes to it, like for instance I would have never listened to JT voluntarily because he's from *NSYNC, but I saw him on SNL a few weeks ago and was so blown by his performance of "Mirrors" that I played it over and over and made my husband watch it and kept asking him about it, like isn't it awesome? So yeah, I'm listening to JT's album as I write, because music and musicians are so versatile and our tastes change and evolve in years, since I know for sure there are bands or singers I wouldn't have listened to in my teens that I just love now. Like Prince or some of the '90s bands I found so annoying at the time.
That's it. I need to do the dishes.

P.S. If you liked [b:High Fidelity|285092|High Fidelity|Nick Hornby|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327928082s/285092.jpg|2961887] or [b:Just Kids|341879|Just Kids|Patti Smith|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1259762407s/341879.jpg|332242], you're probably going to enjoy this as well.

4 luni și 362 de pagini. Atît am rezistat. O fi vreo capodoperă, nu știu, eu am început cu entuziasm, am continuat din inerție și pe urmă am lălăit-o la infinit. Timpul și răbdarea mea sînt mai importante, și dacă în 4 luni n-am reușit, n-o să pot nici de-acum încolo. Cred că n-am înțeles bine nici care e miza cărții. Partea proastă e că mie chiar îmi place cum scrie Ilis, [b:Cruciada copiilor|6177354|Cruciada copiilor|Florina Ilis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1233423188s/6177354.jpg|6357121] a fost o revelație, chiar și-aici scriitura e foarte bună, și e singurul motiv pentru care m-am ambiționat să tot citesc. În plus, cred ca a făcut o imensă muncă de cercetare. În fine, gîndiți-vă bine înainte să o cumpărați, răsfoiți-o, și nu doar primele pagini.

OK, so this is the first parenting book I've read so far. And it's no surprise, knowing myself, that I chose one that gives tips on doing less in order to enjoy life more.

I am told already I have a laid-back parenting style (I, for once, don't believe I have a style when my baby's only 4 months old!) but these people didn't see me freaking out over my baby's unstoppable crying when she had colics or had a rash of some sort. The privilege is reserved to my husband. So, do I need to relax myself? I surely do.

It's not like the authors have discovered the Zen art of parenting, but there is sensible advice (and lots of examples from the authors' own experience), like making to-do lists and share a smart phone calendar with your spouse, share responsibilities, unclutter, involve kids, plan ahead, simplify, simplify, simplify and say NO to things you're not exactly keen on.

Am tratat puțin cu superficialitate, cred, "Drumul egal al fiecărei zile", dacă stau puțin și mă uit înapoi. Dar n-o să stau :)
Romanul de față (cu mare succes la Salonul se carte de la Paris 2013, dacă e să credem Polirom) e continuarea Drumului, prin Letiția. Îl simt mult mai stufos, mai dens, mai social, mai politic, mai sexual (beneficii post-revoluționare) și mai populat de personaje. Multe. Atît de multe încît autoarea a simțit nevoia să pună la sfîrșit o listă de personaje. Care, normal, formează multe cercuri, familii, colective de serviciu și alte încrengături sociale. Dar care, evident, se intersectează, uneori atît de mult, că acțiunea e la un moment dat pe punctul de a se transforma într-o telenovelă. Care acțiune e și nu e, că vorbim mai degrabă de frînturi de povești și istorii de familie cu impact asupra Letiției și a lui Sorin.

Brilliant. I wish I had read it when I was a teenager. It would have probably made me start dreaming of being a writer, so maybe it's for the best I read it just now.

As fi vrut sa ma pricep un pic la istoria/geografia (veche sau contemporana, n-are importanta) Bucurestiului, ca sa pot pune hotelul asta undeva pe o harta. Ajung atit de rar in Bucuresti ( o data in ultimii 10 ani, prin comparatie de 6 ori in Budapesta) si atunci cu scop foarte precis, ca mi-ar fi deci, imposibil.

Avem, asadar, un loc faimos (?), inceput ca un han in secolul 19, devenit apoi hotel in comunism si imediat dupa '90, camin studentesc pentru citiva ani. Si un personaj principal, Maia, alter ego-ul autoarei, care mixeaza povestile bunicii despre Vasile Capsa & anturajul cu experienta personala de studenta in hotelul-camin, de unde rezulta un fel de istorie a familiei, care se intrepatrunde cu cea a hotelului, o poveste in poveste, naratiune, confesiune, epistola s.a.

Recunosc ca la un moment dat as fi preferat sa citesc doua povesti separate, ajunsesem sa nu mai pricep cine e cine si ce rol are in roman, dar, din fericire, S. S. vine cu niste explicatii salvatoare si cu un final care mi-a placut mai mult decit toata cartea la un loc. Si mi-a mai placut sa-mi descopar orasul natal, prin nume de cartiere, strazi si doctori (!).

How cheesy of me to be listening to Brahms while reading Aimez-vous Brahms... :))
Honestly pretty surprised I recognized most of the famous tunes, though I haven't listened to them in years (except for that lullaby that I hear even in my sleep). As for the book, I remember my mum had a copy when I was a teenager, but for some reason I never laid my hands on it. Was it the ugly cover and the poor paper? I find it sad that Sagan sees the forty year old woman as she does, stylish, fancy job and all, still charming, but for how long?, always in the arms of some man prone to cheat on hear every time the occasion presented itself.

Meh. (I'm obviously not a Christie aficionado, otherwise I would have known Black Coffee was originally a play.)

I hope someone turns it into a film, because it has all the right ingredients of a successful rom-com, only not with your usual young people, working their asses in advertising/publishing in Manhattan, but two old people living their semi-quiet lives in rural England. They both come with family baggage and when you add some ethnic and cultural differences ( British/Pakistani) as well, it gets even better. Lovely character, Major Pettigrew, now who should play him? Hmmm?

Yet another quick interruption from the 2 other books I'm reading - the old one and the long one. I was in desperate need of some thrill and mystery and The Prisoner served its purpose right. Two things about it. The bad one. I read the first two books of the trilogy about six and three years ago, so I couldn't remember much, except for some key facts and characters. But the good thing is that you can read it as an independent book, which is great for both my poor memory and those who haven't read the other two. And Zafon, being the smart guy he is, left the door open for another sequel. If I were to rank it, I think it's better than [b:The Angel's Game|4912857|The Angel's Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #2)|Carlos Ruiz Zafón|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320470394s/4912857.jpg|3252824] (the shorter, the better) but not as good as [b:The Shadow of the Wind|1232|The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1)|Carlos Ruiz Zafón|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344545047s/1232.jpg|3209783].

Awesome 4th reading. It took me ten sittings or so to finish it this time, which is unusual, but it also gave me time to chew and digest things differently. It was all about religion and Eastern philosophy this time, though I don't have the time or the mood to delve deeper into it. I started a few articles on S. and his religious interests, though. What struck me most, probably, was how wonderful a play this could have been. Think of all that lovely sharp dialogue and the simple yet wonderful setting, plus the minute, vivid description of the Glass's living room - 5 acts tops, if you include both stories.

[ To be totally honest, I cannot see why I was so crazy about Zooey in the first place. I like him, sure, but where did all that infatuation come from? Him being so nice (blunt, yes! but still nice) to Franny? I don't think so. Or so nasty to Bessie? Whatever, I think I might have a thing for Buddy right now. :))]
2013
***

Definitely my favourite piece of Salinger’s fiction, despite it lacking a plot, as I have read some complain about. Or, should I say, because of it?
For some unknown reason I tend to read the book in winter – I’ve always thought the so-called action of the book takes place in January, but no, it’s November. However, to me it feels like a winter book (sometimes I feel books have their own season) and should be read accordingly. For the same reason The Picture of Dorian Gray is an autumn book, while On the road is definitely a summer book.
Well, anyway, I don’t re-read so very often, because most of the times I feel I’m cheating on the new books. But with some of them it’s different, and you get to see everything from a different angle each time. The first two times I focused on Zooey, but this time I got to see Franny more clear. (Don’t worry Zooey darling, you’re still my no 1 crush when it comes to literary characters.)
And since I don’t seem to be saying anything worth reading about the book itself, here’s a paragraph I liked a lot:

"I don't think it would have all got me quite so down if just once in a while - just once in a while - there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn't, it's just a disgusting waste of time! But there never is! You never even hear any hints dropped on a campus that wisdom is supposed to be the goal of knowledge. You hardly ever even hear the word 'wisdom' mentioned! Do you want to hear something funny? Do you want to hear something really funny? In almost four years of college - and this is the absolute truth - in almost four years of college, the only time I can remember ever even hearing the expression 'wise man' being used was in my freshman year, in Political Science! And you know how it was used? It was used in reference to some nice old poopy elder statesman who'd made a fortune in the stock market and then gone to Washington to be an adviser to President Roosevelt. Honestly, now! Four years of college, almost! I'm not saying that happens to everybody, but I just get so upset when I think about it I could die."
2009

They say "better late than never". I'd say better sooner than too late. A couple decades too late. Thumbs up for P.J. Lynch's illustrations though.

Excelent. Nu mi-a mai placut FF asa mult de la "Baiuteii".

Considering how much I enjoyed A Year in Provence, I sort of expected to like this one a bit more. It wasn't bad, how can anything related to food and drinks be bad?, but there were (boring) moments when I wanted to put it down and be done with it.

Holy Moly! Kids, don't talk to strangers! Definitely the weirdest and most twisted McEwan I had so far, in the fashion of Enduring Love I dare say.