Take that, to read pile!
Admitedly, this title would have had more weight if I had read more than two books since the beginning of the month, but as it did motivate me to read last month, I feel compelled to use it anyway.
Incidentally, I have totally failed to take into acount my to read pile when proudly announcing that my newly bought books had found a place onto the shelves - the older ones don't have a home anymore. Oops.
Anyway, books I've read lately under the cut.
J'ai lu des livres. Si vous voulez savoir lesquels, suivez le lapin blanc, ou whatever...
♦ Lu et commenté en français
♦ Read and commented in English
February, cont.
♦ 7. Les mines de Sarkal (Service de Surveillance des Planètes Primitives, vol.?), Jean-Pierre Garen. Tellement cliché que je me suis demandée pendant les cinquante premières pages si je ne l'avais pas déjà lu avant qu'un détail ne me fasse décider que oh, ben non alors. Scénario light, personnages caricaturaux à mort, intrigue téléguidée - je suis cliente, mais je me doute bien que ce ne peut pas être du goût de tout le monde.
-> keywords: bionic men, brothers in arms, cliché, friendship, good guys vs. bad guys, hidden in plain sight, i fight for my people, many people die, maskerade, on the road again, secrets, smart characters are smart, the lady has a castle, war
♦ 8. Les Forestiers [The Woodlanders], Thomas Hardy. La jeune Grace revient dans sa famille après avoir terminé ses études à la ville. Elle se réajuste à la vie des forestiers, rythmée par la terre et le travail. Depuis longtemps tacitement promise à un voisin amoureux, ses belles manières font cependant douter son père de la sagesse de cette décision. Certainement sa fille chérie, la prunelle de ses yeux, avec toute son instruction et ses belles manières, pourrait-elle faire un "beau" mariage, un mariage qui la ferait quitter la classe de sa famille pour entrer dans la partie la plus haute de la société?
Ce n'est pas une histoire heureuse, les amours sont contrariées et certains personnages n'ont droit qu'au malheur du début à la fin du livre. Les bonnes intentions ne sont pas récompensées, les espoirs parfois déçus. Mais on s'attache aux personnages et on se prend à espérer que tout finira pour le mieux pour chacun d'entre eux. Si seulement les désirs des uns n'allaient pas à l'encontre de ceux des autres!
-> keywords: crossing the line, cry benebu cry, decisions[,] decisions, family, friendship, oh father!, pride, shame on us, thou shall be a good girl, workin' & prayin'
March
♦ 9. Vanity Fair [La foire aux vanités], William Makepeace Thackeray.
This novel 'without a hero' follows two girls from the moment when they finish their education. Sweet, dear Amelia has nice prospects: her family has a bit of money and she has never really doubted that some day her childhood sweetheart will ask for her hand - he's a godson to her father, the families are tied in affairs, the match is almost made already. Inconstancy, war and money matters will come in the way though, and poor Amelia's faithful heart will suffer quite a bit in the process.
Her friend Becky, a smart and pretty girl, will have to fend for herself. She's an orphan, she has no fortune and will start in life as a governess. Obviously, her goal is to marry, and to marry well. Becky wishes for material security of course, but she also wants to be someone in society. This will mean, at first, a wise choice of allies in the family she enters, for all are quarelling about and old aunt's future inheritance.
Both girls are as different as can be. Odly enough, the men they come to marry aren't very different from each other. Becky's life is funnier to read about because she's always scheming something or other, when Amelia is so ill-armed to face whatever life throws at her. Most men are ridiculous creatures in this novel. Seeing them all dancing around was quite entertaining, though.
-> keywords: brothers in arms, decisions[,] decisions, family, friendship, gossip, i have a plan, inheritance, liar liar pants on fire!, manipulation, oh father!,secrets, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 10. L'Esclave libre [Band of Angels], Robert Penn Warren. La jeune Amantha grandit dans le sud des Etats-Unis, au milieu du 19ème siècle. Enfant chérie de son papa, un peu solitaire dans la grande maison, elle trouve de l'affection dans la cuisine auprès de la vieille esclave, tante Sukie. Les années passent et elle se retrouve en pension, se laisse troubler par le beau Seth qui ne vit (presque) que pour sa foi. Et puis vient le coup de tonnerre: le père d'Amantha meurt, et elle découvre ce qu'elle savait peut-être, au fond d'elle-même. Sa mère était une esclave et fille d'esclave, Amantha est un bien et non une personne. Elle sera donc vendue, comme les autres, pour régler les dettes de son père.
Le livre suit le parcours d'Amantha sur une très longue période. C'est elle en fait qui nous raconte son histoire, du plus loin qu'elle se souvienne. Pendant tout le livre elle se demande plus ou moins qui elle est (et aussi, dans une certaine mesure, ce qu'elle veut). Je crois que c'est cette confusion, ce manque de direction qui m'a empêchée de totalement adhérer à son histoire. Elle est souvent appelée 'pauvre petite Manty' au cours de la narration, et on a l'impression que c'est comme ça qu'elle se sera considérée toute sa vie durant, comme une pauvre petite fille. Ceci dit, très bien écrit, plus d'une fois je me suis répétée une phrase particulièrement marquante en me disant qu'elle vaudrait le coup d'être notée. Oh, et puisque je suis bavarde sur le sujet, si vous avez l'occasion de réviser la Guerre de Sécession avant de votre lecture, ça aidera peut-être. Je me suis un peu embrouillée, moi.
-> keywords: adventure i seek you, blackmail, book(s) in the book, brothers in arms, family, first person narration, hero has no parents, i fight for my people, it's a men's world, prejudice, secrets, thou shall be a good girl, time to change, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 11. The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales, Thomas Hardy.
The Distracted Preacher A young preacher learns that the woman he is courting is involved in contraband, as are most of the inhabitants of the village he resides in. The ending :: is oddly convenient, but then the author says in a note that he didn't like it either.:: And I still don't get the title.
adventure i seek you, crossing the line, decisions[,] decisions, secrets, strong women
A Mere Interlude On her way to marry the man she has accepted, Baptista meets with a former flame and decides on a whim to marry him instead. She has yet to tell anyone about her change of heart when she unexpectedly finds herself a widow. She then lets her now second wedding take place without telling anyone about her situation.
decisions[,] decisions, secrets
The Withered Arm Two women for one man, a situation that can't end well for everyone. A gothic tale that I enjoyed.
curse, supernatural, there's always a girl, witches
A Tragedy of Two Ambitions Two ambitious brothers have decided that the Church will be their way to a higher place in society. They do take care of their sister's education, but are embarrassed with their father, too common and who has taken to drinking. The titles says it all.
-> keywords: career, decisions[,] decisions, family, secrets, shame on us
The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Ah! Poor characters, if only anything could be done for them. A solitary girl, living alone with her father, becomes engaged to be married to a man who then goes away for whichever reason without ever releasing her from her promise. The girl befriends a soldier camping near her house with his troup. Friendship turns to more, but their love cannot be. The last pages are truly gripping. Read this one!
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, oh father!, secrets
Barbara of the House of Grebe Scandal, atonement, tragedy, cruelty and an ironic ending.
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, family, love him/love him not, the lady has a castle, walking with your ghosts
On the Western Circuit A young judge (from a noble family) meets with a pretty housemaid during a fair. [...] they gazed at each other with smiles, and with that unmistakable expression which means so little at the moment, yet so often leads up to passion, heart-ache, union, disunion, devotion, overpopulation, drudgery, content, resignation, despair. He thinks about her as a mere distraction, but she proves herself so charming a correspondant that he falls completely for her. Terribly Cyrano.
-> keywords: crossing the line, friendship, love makes you a fool, maskerade, mentor/apprentice relationship, pen pals, secrets
The Son's Veto Class, class, class and class pride are the crux of the problem once again. A vicar marries his parlor-maid. Their son will be a gentleman, educated among gentlemen, and very class-conscious. When his widowed mother thinks about going back to the country and marrying a working-man, his pride can't take it. A story that makes you angry and sad. But mostly angry.
-> keywords: family, it's a men's world, Oxford-educated character, prejudice, pride, shame on us
The Fiddler of the Reels Once there was a girl who was unable to resist the power of the fiddler whenever he played. Beware, girls, of fiddlers! They only want one thing and it's not to make an honnest woman out of you.
-> keywords: addiction, decisions[,] decisions, family, on the road again, tale
An Imaginative Woman She is a married woman, a mother of three, and she fancies herself a poet. When she and her family come to stay for a holiday in the house where one of her favorite poets usually resides, she lets her imagination run free and makes of this man she has never met her perfect lover. But are fantasies ever as harmless as they seem?
-> keywords: book(s) in the book, cliché, family, pen pals, secrets, treasure, walking with your ghosts, what if
The Grave by the Handpost Depression, suicide, betrayal and a church choir singing carols. What a weird mix.
-> keywords: depression, drinking, family, i fight for my people, let's do nothing about it, taboo, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 12. The World of Ptavvs, Larry Niven. Because he has telepathic abilities, Larry is asked to perform an experiment - scientists believe that the very old statue found at the bottom of the seas doesn't as much come from the lost Atlantide than from outer space: it would be an alien under a stasis. Turns out, the scientists are right. But: 1) the tool in the alien's hand can be used as a terribly destructive weapon, 2) the alien comes from a race of beings that can control other minds and 3) when he wakes up from a contact with such a powerful mind, Larry is quite persuaded that he is Kzanol, the alien.
-> keywords: detective, i have a plan, it's a men's world, manipulation, save the world[,] kiddo, treasure, walking with your ghosts
♦ 13. Maria avec et sans rien [Play it as it Lays], Joan Didion. Maria aime conduire sur les autoroutes californiennes et abuser des calmants. Maria a une relation compliquée avec son ex-mari. Maria promène sa dépression dans Los Angeles, entourée d'amis bienveillants mais tout aussi paumés. Je n'ai pas vraiment réussi à entrer en relation avec ce personnage. Mais est-ce que c'était le but recherché? Avertissement pour ::une scène d'avortement clandestin plutôt gore.::
-> keywords: addiction, adultery, depression, friendship, walking with your ghosts
♦ 14. Je suis une légende [I Am Legend], Richard Matheson. Dans un monde envahi par les vampires, le dernier homme refuse de se résigner. Des hauts, des bas, l'espoir - mais tout ça pour quoi, au fond? Un auteur qui parvient à créer une angoisse chez le lecteur rien qu'en nous disant qu'une montre s'est arrêtée ne peut être totalement mauvais^^ Ca m'a vraiment donné envie de voir l'adaptation ciné, même si la description physique du héros crie littéralement "le contraire de Will Smith".
-> keywords: book(s) in the book, curse, drinking, good guys vs. bad guys, house, many people die, supernatural, the end of the world is upon us, walking with your ghosts
♦ 15. A Question of Blood [Cicatrices], Ian Rankin. Part of the inspector Rebus series. The story starts with suspicion on the inspector as he finds himself the prime suspect in the death of a man who was stalking his partner. But then Rebus is called in to help investigating a shooting that took place in a public school. Just like himself, the shooter was ex-army. A complicated case involving Ghoths, lonely military men an some upset parents. Well done. Rebus is deliciously Vimesian in his delight at annoying powerful people.
-> keywords: brothers in arms, crime, crossing the line, detective, drinking, family, friendship, good guys vs. bad guys, many people die, secrets, strong women, walking with your ghosts
♦ 16. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian [Une brève histoire du tracteur en Ukraine], Marina Lewycka. When their eighty-something widowed father falls for a beautiful foreign women less than half his age, two sisters forget their disagreements to unite against a common ennemy. As the story unfolds, the family history comes into a different light for Nadia, the younger sister. Nice read.
-> keywords: family, first person narration, fools you shall suffer, gossip, house, inheritance, language, liar liar pants on fire!, love makes you a fool, manipulation, oh father!, poetry, secrets, sisters, walking with your ghosts
April
♦ 17. Far From the Madding Crowd [Loin de la foule déchaînée], Thomas Hardy. This story is set in a small country community. Bathsheba, a young woman of independant means, finds herself with three suitors. Which one shall she choose? She takes a time to decide between the sheperd, the farmer and the soldier, under the watchful eyes (and abundant gossip) of the men who work for her - for the man she chooses will obviously become their new master. I liked this story. Bathsheba is rather a 'nice' girl, she doesn't play games with her suitors, just takes an awful lot of time to decide.
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, depression, friendship, hero has no parents, love makes you a fool, pride, thou shall be a good girl, walking with your ghosts, workin' & prayin'
♦ 18. Moïra, Julien Green. L'histoire de Joseph, un jeune homme habité d'une foi brûlante qui arrive à l'université depuis sa campagne. Ses camarades, les timides comme les hardis, le heurtent tous d'une façon ou d'une autre - ils blasphèment, ils pensent aux filles, vont même parfois jusqu'à fréquenter une maison de plaisirs. Même David, qui se destine à devenir pasteur, ne peut devenir l'ami parfait, puisqu'il a la certitude d'être sauvé tandis que Joseph reste en proie au doute. Cette rage, cette colère qui lui font si vertement corriger les pécheurs ne cachent-elles pas en fait une envie de céder lui aussi à la tentation? Ce n'était pas le moment pour ce pauvre Joseph de croiser Moïra, que sa réputation sulfureuse précédait en ville.
-> keywords: can't unthink it now, crossing the line, friendship, heaven vs. hell, hidden in plain sight, it burns oh it burns, it's a men's world, prejudice, pride, secrets, set in the 20's, shame on us, slash them! slash them!, taboo, there's always a girl, workin' & prayin'
Incidentally, I have totally failed to take into acount my to read pile when proudly announcing that my newly bought books had found a place onto the shelves - the older ones don't have a home anymore. Oops.
Anyway, books I've read lately under the cut.
J'ai lu des livres. Si vous voulez savoir lesquels, suivez le lapin blanc, ou whatever...
♦ Lu et commenté en français
♦ Read and commented in English
February, cont.
♦ 7. Les mines de Sarkal (Service de Surveillance des Planètes Primitives, vol.?), Jean-Pierre Garen. Tellement cliché que je me suis demandée pendant les cinquante premières pages si je ne l'avais pas déjà lu avant qu'un détail ne me fasse décider que oh, ben non alors. Scénario light, personnages caricaturaux à mort, intrigue téléguidée - je suis cliente, mais je me doute bien que ce ne peut pas être du goût de tout le monde.
-> keywords: bionic men, brothers in arms, cliché, friendship, good guys vs. bad guys, hidden in plain sight, i fight for my people, many people die, maskerade, on the road again, secrets, smart characters are smart, the lady has a castle, war
♦ 8. Les Forestiers [The Woodlanders], Thomas Hardy. La jeune Grace revient dans sa famille après avoir terminé ses études à la ville. Elle se réajuste à la vie des forestiers, rythmée par la terre et le travail. Depuis longtemps tacitement promise à un voisin amoureux, ses belles manières font cependant douter son père de la sagesse de cette décision. Certainement sa fille chérie, la prunelle de ses yeux, avec toute son instruction et ses belles manières, pourrait-elle faire un "beau" mariage, un mariage qui la ferait quitter la classe de sa famille pour entrer dans la partie la plus haute de la société?
Ce n'est pas une histoire heureuse, les amours sont contrariées et certains personnages n'ont droit qu'au malheur du début à la fin du livre. Les bonnes intentions ne sont pas récompensées, les espoirs parfois déçus. Mais on s'attache aux personnages et on se prend à espérer que tout finira pour le mieux pour chacun d'entre eux. Si seulement les désirs des uns n'allaient pas à l'encontre de ceux des autres!
-> keywords: crossing the line, cry benebu cry, decisions[,] decisions, family, friendship, oh father!, pride, shame on us, thou shall be a good girl, workin' & prayin'
March
♦ 9. Vanity Fair [La foire aux vanités], William Makepeace Thackeray.
This novel 'without a hero' follows two girls from the moment when they finish their education. Sweet, dear Amelia has nice prospects: her family has a bit of money and she has never really doubted that some day her childhood sweetheart will ask for her hand - he's a godson to her father, the families are tied in affairs, the match is almost made already. Inconstancy, war and money matters will come in the way though, and poor Amelia's faithful heart will suffer quite a bit in the process.
Her friend Becky, a smart and pretty girl, will have to fend for herself. She's an orphan, she has no fortune and will start in life as a governess. Obviously, her goal is to marry, and to marry well. Becky wishes for material security of course, but she also wants to be someone in society. This will mean, at first, a wise choice of allies in the family she enters, for all are quarelling about and old aunt's future inheritance.
Both girls are as different as can be. Odly enough, the men they come to marry aren't very different from each other. Becky's life is funnier to read about because she's always scheming something or other, when Amelia is so ill-armed to face whatever life throws at her. Most men are ridiculous creatures in this novel. Seeing them all dancing around was quite entertaining, though.
-> keywords: brothers in arms, decisions[,] decisions, family, friendship, gossip, i have a plan, inheritance, liar liar pants on fire!, manipulation, oh father!,secrets, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 10. L'Esclave libre [Band of Angels], Robert Penn Warren. La jeune Amantha grandit dans le sud des Etats-Unis, au milieu du 19ème siècle. Enfant chérie de son papa, un peu solitaire dans la grande maison, elle trouve de l'affection dans la cuisine auprès de la vieille esclave, tante Sukie. Les années passent et elle se retrouve en pension, se laisse troubler par le beau Seth qui ne vit (presque) que pour sa foi. Et puis vient le coup de tonnerre: le père d'Amantha meurt, et elle découvre ce qu'elle savait peut-être, au fond d'elle-même. Sa mère était une esclave et fille d'esclave, Amantha est un bien et non une personne. Elle sera donc vendue, comme les autres, pour régler les dettes de son père.
Le livre suit le parcours d'Amantha sur une très longue période. C'est elle en fait qui nous raconte son histoire, du plus loin qu'elle se souvienne. Pendant tout le livre elle se demande plus ou moins qui elle est (et aussi, dans une certaine mesure, ce qu'elle veut). Je crois que c'est cette confusion, ce manque de direction qui m'a empêchée de totalement adhérer à son histoire. Elle est souvent appelée 'pauvre petite Manty' au cours de la narration, et on a l'impression que c'est comme ça qu'elle se sera considérée toute sa vie durant, comme une pauvre petite fille. Ceci dit, très bien écrit, plus d'une fois je me suis répétée une phrase particulièrement marquante en me disant qu'elle vaudrait le coup d'être notée. Oh, et puisque je suis bavarde sur le sujet, si vous avez l'occasion de réviser la Guerre de Sécession avant de votre lecture, ça aidera peut-être. Je me suis un peu embrouillée, moi.
-> keywords: adventure i seek you, blackmail, book(s) in the book, brothers in arms, family, first person narration, hero has no parents, i fight for my people, it's a men's world, prejudice, secrets, thou shall be a good girl, time to change, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 11. The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales, Thomas Hardy.
The Distracted Preacher A young preacher learns that the woman he is courting is involved in contraband, as are most of the inhabitants of the village he resides in. The ending :: is oddly convenient, but then the author says in a note that he didn't like it either.:: And I still don't get the title.
adventure i seek you, crossing the line, decisions[,] decisions, secrets, strong women
A Mere Interlude On her way to marry the man she has accepted, Baptista meets with a former flame and decides on a whim to marry him instead. She has yet to tell anyone about her change of heart when she unexpectedly finds herself a widow. She then lets her now second wedding take place without telling anyone about her situation.
decisions[,] decisions, secrets
The Withered Arm Two women for one man, a situation that can't end well for everyone. A gothic tale that I enjoyed.
curse, supernatural, there's always a girl, witches
A Tragedy of Two Ambitions Two ambitious brothers have decided that the Church will be their way to a higher place in society. They do take care of their sister's education, but are embarrassed with their father, too common and who has taken to drinking. The titles says it all.
-> keywords: career, decisions[,] decisions, family, secrets, shame on us
The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Ah! Poor characters, if only anything could be done for them. A solitary girl, living alone with her father, becomes engaged to be married to a man who then goes away for whichever reason without ever releasing her from her promise. The girl befriends a soldier camping near her house with his troup. Friendship turns to more, but their love cannot be. The last pages are truly gripping. Read this one!
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, oh father!, secrets
Barbara of the House of Grebe Scandal, atonement, tragedy, cruelty and an ironic ending.
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, family, love him/love him not, the lady has a castle, walking with your ghosts
On the Western Circuit A young judge (from a noble family) meets with a pretty housemaid during a fair. [...] they gazed at each other with smiles, and with that unmistakable expression which means so little at the moment, yet so often leads up to passion, heart-ache, union, disunion, devotion, overpopulation, drudgery, content, resignation, despair. He thinks about her as a mere distraction, but she proves herself so charming a correspondant that he falls completely for her. Terribly Cyrano.
-> keywords: crossing the line, friendship, love makes you a fool, maskerade, mentor/apprentice relationship, pen pals, secrets
The Son's Veto Class, class, class and class pride are the crux of the problem once again. A vicar marries his parlor-maid. Their son will be a gentleman, educated among gentlemen, and very class-conscious. When his widowed mother thinks about going back to the country and marrying a working-man, his pride can't take it. A story that makes you angry and sad. But mostly angry.
-> keywords: family, it's a men's world, Oxford-educated character, prejudice, pride, shame on us
The Fiddler of the Reels Once there was a girl who was unable to resist the power of the fiddler whenever he played. Beware, girls, of fiddlers! They only want one thing and it's not to make an honnest woman out of you.
-> keywords: addiction, decisions[,] decisions, family, on the road again, tale
An Imaginative Woman She is a married woman, a mother of three, and she fancies herself a poet. When she and her family come to stay for a holiday in the house where one of her favorite poets usually resides, she lets her imagination run free and makes of this man she has never met her perfect lover. But are fantasies ever as harmless as they seem?
-> keywords: book(s) in the book, cliché, family, pen pals, secrets, treasure, walking with your ghosts, what if
The Grave by the Handpost Depression, suicide, betrayal and a church choir singing carols. What a weird mix.
-> keywords: depression, drinking, family, i fight for my people, let's do nothing about it, taboo, walking with your ghosts, war
♦ 12. The World of Ptavvs, Larry Niven. Because he has telepathic abilities, Larry is asked to perform an experiment - scientists believe that the very old statue found at the bottom of the seas doesn't as much come from the lost Atlantide than from outer space: it would be an alien under a stasis. Turns out, the scientists are right. But: 1) the tool in the alien's hand can be used as a terribly destructive weapon, 2) the alien comes from a race of beings that can control other minds and 3) when he wakes up from a contact with such a powerful mind, Larry is quite persuaded that he is Kzanol, the alien.
-> keywords: detective, i have a plan, it's a men's world, manipulation, save the world[,] kiddo, treasure, walking with your ghosts
♦ 13. Maria avec et sans rien [Play it as it Lays], Joan Didion. Maria aime conduire sur les autoroutes californiennes et abuser des calmants. Maria a une relation compliquée avec son ex-mari. Maria promène sa dépression dans Los Angeles, entourée d'amis bienveillants mais tout aussi paumés. Je n'ai pas vraiment réussi à entrer en relation avec ce personnage. Mais est-ce que c'était le but recherché? Avertissement pour ::une scène d'avortement clandestin plutôt gore.::
-> keywords: addiction, adultery, depression, friendship, walking with your ghosts
♦ 14. Je suis une légende [I Am Legend], Richard Matheson. Dans un monde envahi par les vampires, le dernier homme refuse de se résigner. Des hauts, des bas, l'espoir - mais tout ça pour quoi, au fond? Un auteur qui parvient à créer une angoisse chez le lecteur rien qu'en nous disant qu'une montre s'est arrêtée ne peut être totalement mauvais^^ Ca m'a vraiment donné envie de voir l'adaptation ciné, même si la description physique du héros crie littéralement "le contraire de Will Smith".
-> keywords: book(s) in the book, curse, drinking, good guys vs. bad guys, house, many people die, supernatural, the end of the world is upon us, walking with your ghosts
♦ 15. A Question of Blood [Cicatrices], Ian Rankin. Part of the inspector Rebus series. The story starts with suspicion on the inspector as he finds himself the prime suspect in the death of a man who was stalking his partner. But then Rebus is called in to help investigating a shooting that took place in a public school. Just like himself, the shooter was ex-army. A complicated case involving Ghoths, lonely military men an some upset parents. Well done. Rebus is deliciously Vimesian in his delight at annoying powerful people.
-> keywords: brothers in arms, crime, crossing the line, detective, drinking, family, friendship, good guys vs. bad guys, many people die, secrets, strong women, walking with your ghosts
♦ 16. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian [Une brève histoire du tracteur en Ukraine], Marina Lewycka. When their eighty-something widowed father falls for a beautiful foreign women less than half his age, two sisters forget their disagreements to unite against a common ennemy. As the story unfolds, the family history comes into a different light for Nadia, the younger sister. Nice read.
-> keywords: family, first person narration, fools you shall suffer, gossip, house, inheritance, language, liar liar pants on fire!, love makes you a fool, manipulation, oh father!, poetry, secrets, sisters, walking with your ghosts
April
♦ 17. Far From the Madding Crowd [Loin de la foule déchaînée], Thomas Hardy. This story is set in a small country community. Bathsheba, a young woman of independant means, finds herself with three suitors. Which one shall she choose? She takes a time to decide between the sheperd, the farmer and the soldier, under the watchful eyes (and abundant gossip) of the men who work for her - for the man she chooses will obviously become their new master. I liked this story. Bathsheba is rather a 'nice' girl, she doesn't play games with her suitors, just takes an awful lot of time to decide.
-> keywords: decisions[,] decisions, depression, friendship, hero has no parents, love makes you a fool, pride, thou shall be a good girl, walking with your ghosts, workin' & prayin'
♦ 18. Moïra, Julien Green. L'histoire de Joseph, un jeune homme habité d'une foi brûlante qui arrive à l'université depuis sa campagne. Ses camarades, les timides comme les hardis, le heurtent tous d'une façon ou d'une autre - ils blasphèment, ils pensent aux filles, vont même parfois jusqu'à fréquenter une maison de plaisirs. Même David, qui se destine à devenir pasteur, ne peut devenir l'ami parfait, puisqu'il a la certitude d'être sauvé tandis que Joseph reste en proie au doute. Cette rage, cette colère qui lui font si vertement corriger les pécheurs ne cachent-elles pas en fait une envie de céder lui aussi à la tentation? Ce n'était pas le moment pour ce pauvre Joseph de croiser Moïra, que sa réputation sulfureuse précédait en ville.
-> keywords: can't unthink it now, crossing the line, friendship, heaven vs. hell, hidden in plain sight, it burns oh it burns, it's a men's world, prejudice, pride, secrets, set in the 20's, shame on us, slash them! slash them!, taboo, there's always a girl, workin' & prayin'