New Zealand blues

Man Alone by John Mulgan

I bought this book in Scorpio Books in Christchurch. The story recounts the life of Johnson, an English soldier in post World War I society in New Zealand. Each new job he takes coincides with changes in society and reflects the hardships of the time. What started with the promise of an easy lifestyle where work, a wage and room are always available, ends up a harsh and unpredictable lifestyle.

The description on the back of the book says the author sees the “New Zealand society as detached and unsentimental, with the power to reject and alienate”. That was the feel and tone I gathered from the lecture and maybe that was why I was not too connected to the story except the excitement of recognizing some of the places.

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The scent of lemon tree flowers

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding

Chris’ auntie lent me this book during our visit in Leura. It was here I smelt the first time the amazing flowers of a lemon tree. I am in love and I really hope I get a chance to plant and have a lemon tree one day. We have already gifted Chris’ mom and dad one and maybe by the time we visit next time it will be in full bloom.

The book is set in Romania around the 1950s. I don’t think I ever read a book set in Romania and written by a non-Romanian author. There is of course ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker but I didn’t finish it so it doesn’t count.

There are three historical periods setting up the context for the characters: pre-war, the war and the beginning of the communist era. These three coincide with various stages in the lives of Tinu and Safta. Safta is the daughter of the well off family Valeanu, while Tinu is the deaf-mute son of one of the servants in the house. Their childhood and teenage years unfold in the picturesque landscape of Moldova, in a time that allows them to enjoy a relatively happy childhood. Tinu finds an outlet to express his thoughts and feelings, through drawing and the only one who can understand the subtleties in his work is Safta. This creates a long lasting bond between the two which will influence their lives all the way through.

I have a feeling I want to escape the themes revolving around wars and communism for a while but I am reaching the realization that is not an easy feat. Our history is so full of them that at one point or another a lot of characters are directly affected, or they are one or two generations separated by a war. Although the war completely changed the course of the characters’ lives and added all the dramatic and intense levels expected, there was an underling soft tone to the story that made it bearable.

The beginning of the communist era brought more bleak aspects into play but it also pushed the two characters together again and it all ended in a happy ending. ‘Happy ending’ is an indulgent expression used here but it did feel like it given the premise.

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My book companions in 2012

Each one of these books was a rewarding read. The ones in bold are ones that really stood out for me:

  1. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
  2. Cartea cu bunici, Coordonat de Marius Chivu
  3. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
  4. In Turkey I am beautiful by Brendan Shanahan
  5. Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan by Marco Polo
  6. Silly Novels by Lady Novelists by George Eliot
  7. Free Will – A Very Short Introduction by Thomas Pink
  8. La colmena by Camilo José Cela
  9. Purificare de Sofi Oksanen
  10. Happiness – A guide to developing life’s most important skill by Matthieu Ricard
  11. Candidatii la fericire by Ileana Vulpescu
  12. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
  13. Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 
  14. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 
  15. Sing to Me, Dreamer by Shonagh Koea
  16. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
  17. Man Alone by John Mulgan

Some other fun reading materials for this year included: ‘Fire and Knives’, the collection of 2010 and the ‘The Art and Craft of Coffee: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Selecting, Roasting, and Brewing Exquisite Coffee’ by Kevin Sinnott.

Let 2013 bring more fun readings!

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I sing to you

Sing to Me, Dreamer by Shonagh Koea

I bought this book at Ariel Books in Auckland and read it about a month ago, after months of struggling through Moby-Dick.

The book is a blend of vivid happy colours with thick streaks of grey. Margaret, the main character, started her life in New Zealand. After series of events that left little room for happiness, she grabs an offer to change her life and goes to live in India as the lover of a Maharajah. She powers through a devastating storm to get hold of this chance and is rewarded with years of joy and peace. Changes in India and back home force her to face the house where she grew up and a past left behind in a mountain of memories and boxes. She becomes part of a world that looks at her as eccentric, at best. As she cleans her parents’ house in the company of a beautiful elephant she finds a way to understand the past and embrace the future.

The process which takes Margaret from sorting a house and her past with it, soothed me and created an emotional bond to this book. It is probably in the light of changes in my personal life where a great source of love, my grandmother, has left the physical world as I know it. While the love of family and friends is a warm blanket around me, it is good to have books to inspire comfort too.

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I can read but can I understand?

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

This is a very short post for a very long book. I struggled to read Moby-Dick. Chris downloaded it on the Kindle and I thought it would be a good idea to read the classic book. It took me around three months to read it, maybe a bit more. I lost track of time. I struggled to understand certain paragraphs which in turn made it hard to understand parts of it. But there were times I was with it, and in those times I liked Queequeg’s storyline and the build up to Captain’s Ahab obsession, combined with his rare moments of clarity. The whale encyclopaedia was fun to read but I can’t say I remember any of it. It feels strange to finish a book and hope the film will help me understand it better.

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Winds and dragons

Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

A new chapter has started and it also brought a wind of change in my reading habits. Being on the road doesn’t make it easy to transport books so this is my first read on a Kindle. Chris bought it a while back against me kicking up a fuss. But he needed it in order to avoid big bulky professional books and here I am using it now. Not only did I read it on a Kindle but it was also suggested from my Goodreads account. Technology all around.

The book covers the stories of four women, first in their homeland in China and then starting a new life in America. Mahjong gives them a social connection through the Joy Luck Club, an excuse that brings them together in happy moments, and sometimes support. The stories continue beautifully with the lives of their children and the complex relationships between generations. This topic is always relevant and with the added layer of cultural differences as well as generational, it seems so pertinent to globalization. The stories were also source of examples of the intricate ties between mother and daughter and the time it takes time for a young woman to define her independence and reach a better understanding of her mother.

The book was made into a movie so I will keep an eye out to see how it transferred on screen. As for my experience with the Kindle, in the beginning I really missed the feeling of a book but I quickly adapted and enjoyed it. I still feel it can never replace a book and the great feeling of buying one, getting excited over it and the memories of where I get it from. I enjoy the convenience of easy transport but it still didn’t stop me from buying books during our travels in Romania and New Zealand. Oh well …

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A new chapter

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

As we were packing to leave Manchester, I decided to keep one book with me. I chose this one for many reasons: it seemed appropriate to read about a new earth as I was entering a new chapter, it also created a nice symmetry as the first book I started reading in Manchester was ‘The Power of Now’ and also because it was a precious gift from my dear friend Grace. She is a beautiful author herself and we share a love of books, coffee, and everything in between and I am looking forward having her close in the near future.

….

We are now already in Brisbane, and a couple of months have passed since I started this post. To recap: we left Manchester, have been back home to Romania and now back to Chris’ home in Australia. It is definitely an interesting time in our lives with traveling around, enjoying time with parents, family and friends. With no set working schedule of the recognizable 9 to 5 or with a flat/house we can call our own, I am happy to say I feel at home and at peace. I am asked and advised quite often about how our lives need to get sorted and the need to buy a place, continue my career and start a family and I fully understand all of these opinions come from a place of good wishes and intentions. But I feel no urgency towards anything else. I am happy to call the place where we are at the moment our home, and the work I am doing now, either professionally or creatively, my career. Here is a career goal achieved: our niece and nephew can now say our names and love to give us a cuddle once in a while even if we interrupt their busy playing schedule.

Although I knew this time was our time to enjoy, it ended up being quite emotional especially at the end of the trip in Romania. I was getting busier and more tired with less hours of sleep, I was more easily taking everything on board and absorbing both my own and my close family’s problems. Even when we got to Australia and I received some not ideal news, I started entering the frenzy of what to do and how to sort it out. I used to do it regularly and I used to accept that every step in life involved hard work or struggle. Things would get done and achieved but I can remember myself building up such a heavy load for every mishap that we had to overcome and somehow I was taking pride in it. It was exhausting to feel and carry around but it was my experience and I was proud of it.

Things have changed in the last years. A shift has occurred where I am letting the past be a learning lesson accessed when needed. It does not need to be revived every day for every single thing. Even in the past year our plans changed and not necessarily under ideal circumstances but we ended up sorting them out to an even better outcome than we initially planned. And continuously I am proved that worry is futile and that the flow of life is in a positive direction. So I just need to let myself float and not be bothered by the occasional sand in my eyes here and there. Most of the times I am comfortably living like this. Of course I get wrapped up here and there in some exhausting situation that could be handled better. But oh well… I will get better at it in time.

In the last years I met Chris and have found a partner, an aspect that clearly participated to me learning to embrace what comes your way. I decided to continue my studies and found the programme I wanted in Manchester. I applied successfully and I let the rest unfold on its own and I can happily say many doors opened in order for this chapter of my life to be so positive. As well when I moved to Manchester, it marked a time when I started looking inside a bit more and spending more time getting to know myself. During this time I periodically read books that supported all the questions I had and helped me recalibrate anytime I needed.

What I embraced in these last years is that listening to my inner voice brings a peace to my life which proves to be most beneficial. This is not ground breaking information when you read it as said by someone else. It is not like I never heard this before this time. But it didn’t resonate deep enough to live by it and even when I lose sight of it, it still finds its way back or I start looking for it. So acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm as Eckhart Tolle beautifully describes are definitely great life companions who I will invite to come along with us into our next adventure.

I started the book in Manchester but finished it now, months after. Probably I wanted to keep the Manchester vibe alive as long as possible. I did the same with the Power of Now … started it and then finished it a long time after. It seems it knows when it needs to come into my life. So with a standing ovation for the city that brought so much richness to my life, I am making room for the next place and looking forward to see the Blue Moon sometime when our paths will cross again.

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Express book diary

We moved away from Manchester and as a result we had to pack our books and send them off. In the heat of moving I did not catch up on my diary and all I could do for the books that kept me company for the past months is the following post.

Free Will – A Very Short Introduction by Thomas Pink
Probably most of us have reflected about ‘free will’ and its role in life. My sporadic thoughts on the topic were never taken too deep, so it was helpful to read a structured introduction to schools of thought/belief. At some point, as I was reading about all the different models, my mind starting creating a web of ideas. A probabilistic model, which accounts for causality and for freedom of choice. Each action produces infinity of possible outcomes, which in turn are causes to infinity of outcomes. With that said there are certain probabilities higher that stand out that enable a clear ‘if A then B’ statement and render all the rest negligible. I was happy to find my inner philosopher and have my own breakthrough. Of course as I kept reading it became clear this is not a new idea and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what great minds and wise men/women have already shared with the world. Still fun to think about though.

La colmena by Camilo José Cela
Este quería ser my primer articulo en español. Me hice una promesa al empezar del año que voy a escribir en la lengua en que leí. Seguro que ese fue también la razón por no leer nada en español hasta ´La colmena’, para no deber enfrentar todas mis errores y descubrir que limitado es mi vocabulario.

Compré este libro el la tienda de libros antiguas, una tienda donde sí compras dos libros, te regalarán fruta, para disfrutar con tu lectura. El libro es la disección de una colmena de la gente de Madrid post Guerra, y muestra una actividad continua pero ninguna mas importante que otra y te recuerda que una vida no es mas interesante que otra.

Purificare de Sofi Oksanen
Am cumparat cartea in Bucuresti, in aeroport, fara sa-mi fi fost cunoscuta autoarea. Povestea se desfasoara in mare parte in Estonia. Nu am citit multe lucruri, poate chiar deloc, despre Estonia. Cartea nu a facut decat sa imi aduca aminte ca oricat am vrea sa ne individualizam prin durerea noastra, sau istoria noastra mai interesanta sau importanta, avem mai multe lucruri in comun decat lucruri care ne diferentiaza. O familie se schimba drastic o data cu venirea comunismului. O combinatie intre o dragoste obsesiva si interzisa, si opresivitatea societatii creaza o drama cu ramificatii dureroare si de lunga durata. Cred ca pentru o perioada voi lua o pauza de la tema povestilor tragice din timpul comunismului. Imi creaza o stare de tristete sa stiu ca in conditii extreme cu totii putem da dovada de inumanitate.

Happiness – A guide to developing life’s most important skill by Matthieu Ricard
Reading this book balances the stream of negative information I come in contact with every day and reminds me that peace and happiness are our true nature. The author’s interest in the scientific advancements in studying the relationship between mind and body showcases an exciting time when we are learning to embrace our intrinsic positive energy and sharing more love and joy with the world.

Candidatii la fericire by Ileana Vulpescu
Am primit colectia de eseuri de la mama, cadou de ziua mea. O colectie care te poarta ca printr-un muzeu de vieti unde nu poti decat sa fii un vizitaor si sa speri ca iti vor accepta canditatura la fericire.

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Voulez vous écrire avec moi?

Silly Novels by Lady Novelists by George Eliot

I bought this book in London together with ‘Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan’.

The author is Mary Ann Evans; her pen name is George Eliot. Although I did not read any of the books she refers to, I thought it was interesting to read constructive criticism. Her criticism for fellow female writers was deeply rooted in the expectation for them not to follow comfortable patterns in their literary endeavours. At a time when female role models were not highly publicized, she found it their duty to be genuine, creative and insightful. I appreciate the author’s exigency for female writers to be faithful to their literary voices. She encouraged them to avoid a strong masculine style, to be feminine but not fall in the other extreme of simple and overly emotional.

‘Woman in France: Madame De Sablé‘ was most interesting to me. It starts with an interesting fact. In 1847 a Count Leopold Ferri died and left a collection of 32 000 books all written by women from all over the world. Pretty impressive number for that time. The author gives great literary credit to French women of the seventeenth, closer to eighteenth century for pouring great sensibility, wit and insight in their letters to family and lovers. These were an open window into their lives and souls that did not expect a public following but nevertheless proved invaluable. This quote is great:
“.. in France alone, if the writings of women were swept away, a serious gap would be made in national history”.

There is a beautiful description of French women. They opened their homes and created hubs of motivation for the writers of the time. They were not only hostesses or ingénue muses, but also strong sources of culture and inspiration. Really great to read this and think of how our communication and interaction with other people can spark originality. Maybe it is time to plan another dinner with friends and see what happens.

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Did they have Lonely Planet guides in the thirteenth century?

Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan by Marco Polo

I bought this book from Daunt Books, a lovely bookshop on Marylebone High Street in London. I was on a mission to find the Rococo Chocolates store. We had their chocolates as party favours at our wedding. We ordered them online and we never had the chance to go to a shop as, best to my knowledge, they don’t have a store in Manchester.

After we satisfied our curiosity and found the shop, we walked around Marylebone High Street and ended up in the bookshop. How can I not buy a book from a place that looks like this?

Shopping.

I found two Penguins that made their way back home with us.

The book is written in the thirteenth century and depicts the court of Kubilai Khan, the Mongol leader as experienced and witnessed by Marco Polo. The read kept pushing me into this wonder of how much time has passed and how many generations all those places have seen since.

My original post was a lot more naive considering I assumed the book was a relatively faithful recount of the times. Before I published it to the blog I ‘bumped’ into a few references doubting it’s accuracy or going further and claiming Marco Polo never made it to China. As a parenthesis: I found one of these references in the ‘Food Myths’ article by Tom Parker Bowles in the quarterly food magazine Fire & Knives. Chris got them as a Christmas present a while back and I am finally reading them. They are great fun and I am now in search of the set for 2011. Grrr it is sold out in their shop but I am hoping for some renewed availability.

Regardless of its accuracy, it still describes a very complex court with well-developed systems for trading, army even the postal service. I pictured that most of the written communication from that time would be quite prudish when it came to women. I am not sure why I was so mislead as there is quite a bit of information regarding women and their roles. Virgin daughters considered it to be a blessing to be chosen for/by the great Kubilai Khan while their fathers saw it as an honour and a blessed fulfilment of their lives. Prostitutes were conveniently found in the suburbs, available for travelling men. I sensed a subtle sense of appreciation for a community where it was an honour for a woman to be ‘experienced’. A bit like the thirteenth century version of an open marriage where the husband was embracing his wife showing a good time to a travelling man. Not only that but giving them the necessary privacy.

Lesson learned: travel writing is a duty for the future. Hence I have to travel for posterity. It is not for my pleasure, it is just a selfless act I have to complete. I am just being selfless and obsequious. ( I learned a new word and challenged myself to use it in a sentence.. fun times … fun times).

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