Book-Report #2 - Örtlich (un)begrenzt
February is soon at its end and I've finished my second book this year.
Well, I'm not even sure if this thing deserves to be called "book", since with only about 100 pages and "only" filled with short-stories and poems it's more like a booklet.
Oh, and yes, it's written in German - the English title would be something like "Locally (un)restricted", unless I didn't get an intended pun.
I've bought it a while ago in our local bookshop. With "local bookshop" I literally mean they are also the local publisher and in that capacity mainly publish book about my home town, the region or things written by people from here.
This particular little book collects stories and poems by 3 women I've never heard of before, and to be honest, I don't care to read anything else from them.
Most of the contents were at best odd and some even downright depressing. I don't read much in that format, but I like them when they are well written and / or clever - these generally were neither.
I bought this book, because I'm a big fan of my home town and had hoped to get a few stories about it or about people who live in it - real or fictional - no matter the genre - no matter the writing style.
Yes, the town and even some special aspects of it get named or even properly used now and then, but almost every bit of the book could have referred to some other place just as well. Sometimes the place is even altogether irrelevant - so why include "local" in the title?
One of the women, at least, wrote funny and even rather clever stories. Her name is Nicole Eick, a namesake.
Nevertheless, this kind of work is not what I would ever like to publish or even show to friends. It just seems too pointless.
Concerning my other current reads, I'm nearing the end of "Wolves of Calla" at a steady pace and it's interesting enough to keep me reading, when I've got the time.
"Les Miserables" also had a few good chapters for a while again, but now it might turn into a long winded history book again. At least, Marius finally met Eponine and Cosette, although he doesn't know their names yet.
This was also posted on my writing blog.