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Showing posts with the label The Dream of Scipio

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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Advent Calendar, box no.23 - Best books of the year

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In the end of the year we always look back on the year that has been. Not only when it comes to books, but life in general. I am preparing my statistics for the year, but I thought I will reveal, on this day before Christmas, the books I like best during the year. I have enjoyed most of the books I have read, but for the really best, I have limited the number to three. All of them new authors to me. All of them have been on my TBR shelves for some years. I just wonder why? J.P. Hartley - The Go-Between - a wonderful book about a young boys experience in his teens. Being the messenger for a couple in love and all the consequences it led to. Iain Pears - The Dream of Scipio - a great book which has parallel stories and how history never changes. Thomas Mann - The Buddenbrooks - his masterpiece and a fantastic family saga written in unforgettable prose. You are right there with the family. Wishing you a peaceful Christmas! Tomorrow we travel to my parents and the real Chri...
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The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears

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"Julien Barneuve dies at 3:28 on the afternoon of August 18, 1943." That is the first sentence of The Dream of Scipio . It is my first book by Iain Pears. Luckily, I have another one waiting on my shelves. This book was such a wonderful surprise and I think he will be one of my favourite authors in the future. 'The Washington Post' has put it right to the core: " A thrilling journey through history, into the human heart and soul ." We follow three men and their beloved through history and it takes place in France. In the 5th century we meet Manlius Hippomanes and his beloved Sophia. In the 14th century Olivier de Noyen and his beloved Rebecca and in the 20th century Julien Barneuve and his beloved Julia. Julien is an historian and is researching the other two.  Olivier is the middle man, already having had an interest in old manuscripts in the 14th century, his researched gives Julien the story of Manlius. It is only in the very last stage of his life, t...
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