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Showing posts with the label Troy

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...

The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone

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This is a book that I have had for a long time. I did start reading it years ago, but never finished it. Time to start again, since this was the book for the Book Challenge by Erin : 5 points - read a book that is at least 200 pages. My pocket version is 579 pages. Irving Stone is mostly known for his biographical novels, or which A Lust for Life  about Vincent van Gogh, and The Agony and the Ecstasy  about Michelangelo are his most famous. The Greek Treasure  is about Heinrich Schliemann and his Greek wife Sophia and their quest to find the city of Troy and Priam's treasure. It is a fascinating book in many ways. The characters, their goals in life and the pride in their achievements. Heinrich Schliemann was born in Germany, but had the world as his home. He was a self-made man and made three fortunes in different countries. He spoke many languages and said he could learn a language in six weeks. He was interested in the classics and learned Greek just to be able...