παράδοξος

the pen i’ve been using for 2.5 years ran out of ink ;(

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.

I’m always on the hunt for good novels with female protagonists and in this case I was baffled by the fact Mademoiselle de Scuderi was portrayed in more than just a representative role. The novel is based on the real life of a French author of the same name. It takes place in 1680 when Madeleine of Scuderi becomes part of an exciting hunt for a murderer whose victims are young men carrying jewelry to the mistresses. Madeleine de Scuderi is one of those historical figures where you could absolutely drown in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and magazine articles about her shenanigans. She was an absolute icons and one of the most influential authors of her time. I really admire her as a person and am glad I could make up a more personified image of her in my mind by the means of this book.

A very short story which feels much larger than it is. In this surrealistic piece, the library as a concept is so vast and all-encompassing that it almost exists as it’s own cosmos. Not only does it hold every book in every language ever written but any string of words one could ever think of. The library is it’s own micro- or better macrocosm and resembles a living, breathing thing in many respects. This story was both fascinating and eerie at the same time. The image of a library in which everything that has ever been said or will ever be said exists in written form is incredibly haunting. The depth of this text feels like a bottomless pool you can never escape once you dip your toes into it.

I’ve been meaning to dive more into Poe’s work for centuries but unfortunately never got around to do it. Partly, because I simply did not know where to start. Now my university has finally given me the opportunity to do so. This short story details the solving of a gruesome and almost paradoxical double murder by the two protagonists. How can you be very surprised and… very much not surprised at the same time after reading a text? I can’t really explain it but this was the case for me in the instance of this story. I think a lot of Poe’s works have been absorbed into the collective mind of our world and although I am quite sure to never have read this particular work of his, I sometimes had a sense of Deja-vu when reading the end (which is magnificent by the way and has wonderfully critical connotations to it).

Now it is the season when the days get longer and the nights darker. Thus it seemed only fitting to indulge myself in the joys of Goethe’s early melancholy again. From times, when there was still this kind of youthful hope to his suicidal tendencies. The Sorrows of Young Werther probably is one of the most well known German classics and in my opinion, very much rightfully so. It is a short epistolary novel, composed by the letters of Werther to his friend, detailing the miseries of his one-sided and deeply unhappy love to the engaged Lotte. I still remember the first time I picked up this book a few years ago and how smitten I was with how in-touch the main character was with his emotions, as opposed to modern writers today. Young teenage me felt… understood in a way. Like there was something consoling in the fact that somebody a few hundred years ago had also gone through what I was going through at the time. Now that I’m a bit older, this romantization has subsided a bit and I can acknowledge the overdramatic sides of this book – although this doesn’t necessarily make me enjoy them less.

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.

I’m always on the hunt for good novels with female protagonists and in this case I was baffled by the fact Mademoiselle de Scuderi was portrayed in more than just a representative role. The novel is based on the real life of a French author of the same name. It takes place in 1680 when Madeleine of Scuderi becomes part of an exciting hunt for a murderer whose victims are young men carrying jewelry to the mistresses. Madeleine de Scuderi is one of those historical figures where you could absolutely drown in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and magazine articles about her shenanigans. She was an absolute icons and one of the most influential authors of her time. I really admire her as a person and am glad I could make up a more personified image of her in my mind by the means of this book.

A very short story which feels much larger than it is. In this surrealistic piece, the library as a concept is so vast and all-encompassing that it almost exists as it’s own cosmos. Not only does it hold every book in every language ever written but any string of words one could ever think of. The library is it’s own micro- or better macrocosm and resembles a living, breathing thing in many respects. This story was both fascinating and eerie at the same time. The image of a library in which everything that has ever been said or will ever be said exists in written form is incredibly haunting. The depth of this text feels like a bottomless pool you can never escape once you dip your toes into it.

I’ve been meaning to dive more into Poe’s work for centuries but unfortunately never got around to do it. Partly, because I simply did not know where to start. Now my university has finally given me the opportunity to do so. This short story details the solving of a gruesome and almost paradoxical double murder by the two protagonists. How can you be very surprised and… very much not surprised at the same time after reading a text? I can’t really explain it but this was the case for me in the instance of this story. I think a lot of Poe’s works have been absorbed into the collective mind of our world and although I am quite sure to never have read this particular work of his, I sometimes had a sense of Deja-vu when reading the end (which is magnificent by the way and has wonderfully critical connotations to it).

Now it is the season when the days get longer and the nights darker. Thus it seemed only fitting to indulge myself in the joys of Goethe’s early melancholy again. From times, when there was still this kind of youthful hope to his suicidal tendencies. The Sorrows of Young Werther probably is one of the most well known German classics and in my opinion, very much rightfully so. It is a short epistolary novel, composed by the letters of Werther to his friend, detailing the miseries of his one-sided and deeply unhappy love to the engaged Lotte. I still remember the first time I picked up this book a few years ago and how smitten I was with how in-touch the main character was with his emotions, as opposed to modern writers today. Young teenage me felt… understood in a way. Like there was something consoling in the fact that somebody a few hundred years ago had also gone through what I was going through at the time. Now that I’m a bit older, this romantization has subsided a bit and I can acknowledge the overdramatic sides of this book – although this doesn’t necessarily make me enjoy them less.

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.

I’m always on the hunt for good novels with female protagonists and in this case I was baffled by the fact Mademoiselle de Scuderi was portrayed in more than just a representative role. The novel is based on the real life of a French author of the same name. It takes place in 1680 when Madeleine of Scuderi becomes part of an exciting hunt for a murderer whose victims are young men carrying jewelry to the mistresses. Madeleine de Scuderi is one of those historical figures where you could absolutely drown in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and magazine articles about her shenanigans. She was an absolute icons and one of the most influential authors of her time. I really admire her as a person and am glad I could make up a more personified image of her in my mind by the means of this book.

A very short story which feels much larger than it is. In this surrealistic piece, the library as a concept is so vast and all-encompassing that it almost exists as it’s own cosmos. Not only does it hold every book in every language ever written but any string of words one could ever think of. The library is it’s own micro- or better macrocosm and resembles a living, breathing thing in many respects. This story was both fascinating and eerie at the same time. The image of a library in which everything that has ever been said or will ever be said exists in written form is incredibly haunting. The depth of this text feels like a bottomless pool you can never escape once you dip your toes into it.

I’ve been meaning to dive more into Poe’s work for centuries but unfortunately never got around to do it. Partly, because I simply did not know where to start. Now my university has finally given me the opportunity to do so. This short story details the solving of a gruesome and almost paradoxical double murder by the two protagonists. How can you be very surprised and… very much not surprised at the same time after reading a text? I can’t really explain it but this was the case for me in the instance of this story. I think a lot of Poe’s works have been absorbed into the collective mind of our world and although I am quite sure to never have read this particular work of his, I sometimes had a sense of Deja-vu when reading the end (which is magnificent by the way and has wonderfully critical connotations to it).

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.

I’m always on the hunt for good novels with female protagonists and in this case I was baffled by the fact Mademoiselle de Scuderi was portrayed in more than just a representative role. The novel is based on the real life of a French author of the same name. It takes place in 1680 when Madeleine of Scuderi becomes part of an exciting hunt for a murderer whose victims are young men carrying jewelry to the mistresses. Madeleine de Scuderi is one of those historical figures where you could absolutely drown in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and magazine articles about her shenanigans. She was an absolute icons and one of the most influential authors of her time. I really admire her as a person and am glad I could make up a more personified image of her in my mind by the means of this book.

A very short story which feels much larger than it is. In this surrealistic piece, the library as a concept is so vast and all-encompassing that it almost exists as it’s own cosmos. Not only does it hold every book in every language ever written but any string of words one could ever think of. The library is it’s own micro- or better macrocosm and resembles a living, breathing thing in many respects. This story was both fascinating and eerie at the same time. The image of a library in which everything that has ever been said or will ever be said exists in written form is incredibly haunting. The depth of this text feels like a bottomless pool you can never escape once you dip your toes into it.

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.

I’m always on the hunt for good novels with female protagonists and in this case I was baffled by the fact Mademoiselle de Scuderi was portrayed in more than just a representative role. The novel is based on the real life of a French author of the same name. It takes place in 1680 when Madeleine of Scuderi becomes part of an exciting hunt for a murderer whose victims are young men carrying jewelry to the mistresses. Madeleine de Scuderi is one of those historical figures where you could absolutely drown in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and magazine articles about her shenanigans. She was an absolute icons and one of the most influential authors of her time. I really admire her as a person and am glad I could make up a more personified image of her in my mind by the means of this book.

But now, what I have been reading this month?

The first book I finished this month was in fact an audiobook. I have come to love them recently, as I have to ride the bus quite a lot and thus have a lot of time in which I’d otherwise simply be staring into space, contemplating my existence. It is comforting to have these secret worlds which you can simply access with your ears while life continues to happen around you. Ghostbox discussed the possibility of turning humans “immortal” by uploading their consciousness into a special sort of device and creating an AI in their image. At least I highly suspect that this is what it was about, as the audiobook played with the concept of narration quite a lot. This is definitely one of those stories which you have to listen to a couple of times before you’re finally able to decipher what exactly is going on. Still, the voice acting was astoundingly good and the actors really succeeded in abducting me into their world only through their voices. Although I was at a loss for what exactly was happening most of the time, I still enjoyed every second of this audiobook and find the topic more relevant than ever.

One of the first “Choose your own Adventure”-type books and definitely an interesting way to spend an evening. I actually had to read this one for university and loved how it instantly reminded me of the books I used to love in my childhood. In The Cave of Time, the protagonist – or better, the reader – finds the entrance to a mysterious cave and has to make his/her own decisions on how to deal with all the dangers and uncertainties he encounters along the way. I found it fascinating, how easily fantastical and realistic routes were able to coexist in a single space and the reader – if he chooses to only “play” the book one time – could go totally unfazed by the rest. The highly personalized experience was indeed very intriguing. Although it might not have been a literary masterpiece, it was still quite fun – despite the fact that I ended up as an enslaved worker, building the Chinese Wall on my first try…

This month has marked my total descent into the brilliant world of theatre and it would be highly untruthful of me to complain about it. Díaz’ work is a very comprehensive first look into the very subtle and intricate art of directing – and thereby creating – an artistically and economically successful stage play. In it, he encompasses fields like emotions and relationships between characters and actors, costumes, stage design and the more technical sides to working in a theatre. This has been one of the few non-fiction books I truly enjoyed in my lifetime – aside from the numerous ones about Egyptian and Greek mythology – and I was delighted by the way the author was able to put his love for the art of drama into words. And perhaps this might have sparked a little flame in me, where I didn’t know an ember existed…

Initially, I was drawn to this book because of its creative narrative technique and ended up being really surprised by how much the author managed to get me emotionally invested in the characters and their respective stories. Origin basically is a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling to connect with one’s roots and questioning the importance of family-roots and the connection to a specific country of origin. Although the people Stanišić writes about are sometimes a little rough-edged and perhaps might even come across as a little bit mean, there is something truly sensitive and delicate about this story. It’s about family love, blood bonds and the disconnect one feels from one’s own childhood. The second half, or “game half” of the story truly sucks the reader into the story and makes him feel like he is an actual part of the story.

This book also was an assigned read for one of my classes and even though I was a little taken aback upon seeing the sheer size of it, the writing style and interesting psychological background made it surprisingly easy to get through. The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari details the life (and many loves) of the astoundingly beautiful Prince Genji, especially focusing on his emotions and the relationship to the much younger Murasaki – who the author was named after. Truly, there has never been a more problematic “fave” than Genji Monogatari. On the one hand side I enjoyed all the little descriptions, details and poems which transported me right into the life at the Japanese court in the 11th century. There truly was so much depth in every little scene and every single character. However, I also couldn’t help but be amazed at how utterly dramatic and … decadently awful the protagonist is. Not only is he vain, arrogant and puts this very problematic thought of honour at the middle of his life, he also shares Humbert Humberts problematic affinity for young girls and absolutely destroys the lives of so many of the women he has relations with. In the end, his misfortune is completely manmade (by him…).

A very short, light hearted novel I listened to on the long bus ride back home. This is the first instalment of a rather long series of books in which a young woman from the North of Germany inherits the camping ground of her deceased Italian grandmother and slowly learns about her ties to organized crime and shady business in general. I found this book to be utterly adorable and the narrator of the audiobook was very successful in portraying this very confused young woman who gets sucked into a life of suspense and danger without having signed up for it. The suspense was well made and the writing style was humorous without being obnoxious. My only pet peeve was her pronouncing “Nonna” (the Italian word for grandmother) as “Nona”.