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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Miscellaneous reading

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I have read a variety of books lately, but not really had time to write about them. Here are three books that I finished recently, and that I enjoyed.


 The Holy Grail, History, Myth, Religion by Giles Morgan is an interesting summary of the Holy Grail and how it has appeared through history. From the very first pre-Christian sources on a magical vessel to the Cup of Christ. Continuing we enter into the magic world of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, where we also meet Merlin, Excalibur as well as Lancelot and Lady Guinevere, Camelot and visits the Isle of Avalon.

There is no holy grail mystery without the Templars. Morgan takes us to Rosslyn Chapel and other famous spots in order to sort out what is true and not. He continues to modern times and how the Grail has been visualised in cinema. An interesting overview of an interesting subject.


 Agneta Horn by Karin Milles is based on Horn's diary. She lived in Sweden in the mid-17th century and wrote about her miserable life. Milles helps us to put her diary into the historical concepts of the time. Horn's life was rather miserable, if one is to believe what she write, however, it is also a very interesting account of a noble lady at the times. Here we meet a lady who speaks her own mind, chooses whom she marries and makes life quite miserable for her relatives. Maybe they deserved it, for some of them did not treat her very well, when she lost her mother at a very young age. Interesting account of interesting times.

Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan, is a humorous account on how life is on archeological sites in the beginning of the 20th century. Agatha Christie was married to archeologist, Max Mallowan, and accompanied him to some of his digs. We get an idea of the every day life in such a place, very vividly described by Agatha Christie. I seem to remember some of her stories about Poirot which took place on such digs, and I can easily see how she was inspired by real life events. A witty, funny story of the hardship and good times in such places.



Comments

  1. Jeanie19 March 2017 at 16:22

    The first two look very good. I've read the Agatha book and I, too, enjoyed it. Yes, she has used that setting more than once and it's fun to see her inspiration.

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