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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Six Degrees of Separation

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Another month and another chain. I am joining Books Are My Favourite And Best for another six degrees. This month the chain starts with Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I read it many years ago, and loved it. It is a family saga that spans three female generations in China.


I love family sagas so I go from here to The Empress of South America by Nigel Cawthorne. It is the story of a middle class Irish girl who went to Paris and ended up the wife of the emperor of Paraguay. It is a true story of how two, evil people made a whole country their private family business. Quite intriguing and chocking.




From royalty to royalty I go to Mrs Jordan's Profession, by Claire Tomalin. It is a biography about the Anglo-Irish actress, courtesan and mistress of the future King William IV of UK. They had ten illegitimate children together. Fascinating story about a fascinating woman far ahead of her time.




From royalty to a non-royal queen; the master of suspense, Agatha Christie. I happened to find her book Come Tell Me How You Live. It is not a detective story, but a memoir of her life with her archeological husband Max Mallowan and their life during digs in Iraq. Also a fascinating view of her life outside her suspense books.



Continuing with the family side I have to include one of the best books I have read. The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley.  It is about the young teenager Leo who is invited to spend the summer with his upper class school friend Marcus. He is drawn into a family conflict by acting messenger between Marcus' sister Marian and the farmer Ted. He is deeper and deeper drawn into their relationship of deceit and desire. One day e wakes up to make a shocking and premature revelation which ends in disaster.



Continuing with family business of a darker kind. The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century by Sarah Miller. A real life murder case that was never solved. Miller takes us through the actual murders and the trial that followed. An insight into a family that, from the outside, seems a little bit strange to say the least.



When we are talking about families there is the great family saga of Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks. A fantastic story of a families rise and fall. Mann writes in an addicted way and you come so close to the characters that you really think you are there with them. Feeling their happiness and sadness. A really fantastic read.


That was my six degrees of separation and the main theme turned out to be family. Starting in China, continuing to Paraguay, then Ireland/England, on to Iraq, back to England and ending up in Germany at the turn of the last century.

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