Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

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Paulo Coelho has written a wonderful, beautiful story of a modern life. It is done through a set of interviews with people who encountered Athena, a young woman who left a lasting impression on all who met her. She is born in Transylvania to an unmarried gypsy woman, and is given away for adoption. She is adopted by a Libanes couple and her first years are spent there. When the war comes, they move to London.

She studies, meets a man, gets married and has a son. But something is missing in her life, so she decides to leave her marriage, take her son and search for something she does not really know what it is. By chance, as so often happens when you let go of controlling things, she comes in contact with people with special gifts. Gifts which are not always explainable. Through a special dance she finds piece and with it comes a search for something higher in life.


Coelho has created a lovely character in Athena, and in her search for something to live for, he contemplates the difficulties of our modern times. Our fear of everything that is not "normal", our lack of understanding for everything that is different. Athena's search for a higher meaning, for the Earth Mother, and for an answer to all her questions, takes her through different countries and different cultures and back to where she was born.



Athena's story is revealed through interviews with people who knew her, or came in contact with her. We understand that at this point something has happened to Athena, but we do not really know until the very end.


It is a beautiful and magic story Coelho tells us. Are we too fixed on material things? Do we forget our mental longing, for something that can fill our souls with the important things in life? He makes you reflect and look for the things around us that we do not always see.

Comments

  1. Elizabeth14 December 2016 at 13:50

    I definitely agree with the comment about extroverts and introverts.

    I actually am in the middle leaning more toward introvert even though I was a teacher. :)

    Love all of the quotes and this post.

    Thanks for sharing and for coming by my blog. Hope to chat more in the new year.

    Have a wonderful day, Lisbeth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisbeth 28 December 2016 at 17:25

    Looking forward to more exchanges in 2017! It is amazing how blogging friends from all over the world can come together. Especially wonderful for me as a real introvert!

    ReplyDelete

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