Cain by José Saramago

Here we are with the second "religious" book of Saramago (the first was reviewed here). This time we go back to the Old Testament and to the story of Cain and Abel.

Cain, after killing his brother out of envy, will be convict by god in person (with a small g) to never find peace and to roam around the world. He will be present to the most important events described in the Bible as a witness of the violence and selfishness of the aforementioned god (still the one with small g).

Samarago is clearly in contrast with religions in general and his books show it very strongly, but he never gives his opinion on the matter, he writes in a way that makes the reader feel he is the one to express such doubts and uncertainties.

Saramago is never disappointing, I love his style, his way to not use punctuation and strong rules of writing, and I know that most people give up on him for the same reasons.  However this is not his best book so it is suggested for people that already love him.

So when they ask me what I see in him that people don't understand I always suggest to read the "The double" so far the best book I have read by him, but the list can be very long...

Palestine by Joe Sacco

I feel very small in writing this review, because this is not a book, nor a graphic novel, this is, as it was cleverly defined, a "graphic reportage".  And how do you review history and journalism?

You open the book and you are in the Gaza Strip, during the first intifada, but for a change you are looking at the side of the Palestinian, trying to gain back their freedom.

You will know stories of people who lost everything, from the roof on their head, to their job, their land, and often even members of their families.
How does the population react to this invasion? They throw stones!When Sacco asks them what do they think to achieve by doing so (if not to be arrested and tortured) they just tell him that this is the only way they have to be heard and not completely submitted.

Everyone should read this book, to have a different point of view. I obviously don't know where the truth stand in this battle but I promised my self to be more informed on the topic to better understand.
My personal opinion is of course that bringing peace via violence is never the solution, as history shows us every day, equality should be the universal answer!!!
 I recommend to watch this video to understand a bit more.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

A woman (Cheryl), after her mother's death and the resulting series of unhappy turns her life will take, decides to start a long solo hiking over the Pacific Crest Trail to find a new dimension and a new strength. Cheryl has no experience, no training for such an adventure and this would clearly be a big problem on the hiking, but her strong will and motivation, will help her to eventually keep on hiking, step by step.
Will she find herself? Will she find the inner strength to get her life back?

An engaging memoir that flows quite well, however nothing wowing.

I decided to start to read this book in a week I knew I would travel quite much, to feel a bit more the experience. So the book has been with me in 3 countries, on plane, bus, train and by walk, from 6 degrees to 20, with rain, wind and sun: I did my personal "hiking" as well.

An adaptation of the book has become a movie.

The extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an Ikea wardrobe by Romain Puertolas

I bought this book caught by the title, a clear reminder to The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
If you need a nice, quick reading, this might be the book for you.

Ajatashatru the fakir lands in Paris with a specific mission: to buy a new bed of nails from Ikea. So when he asks the taxi driver at the airport to bring him directly to Ikea, the shock of the driver would be ours: Ikea? Really? You are in f***ing Paris and the first thing you want to visit is Ikea?

Oh well, like the driver, we would think that after all it is not our business, and indeed it is not, so let's bring him to Ikea.
Filled with curiosity we will just follow him to see what he is up to (the taxi driver will leave for the moment, at least till he realises that the fakir had tricked him).


We will discover that the fakir is planning to sleep in Ikea, where, to avoid to get caught, he gets trapped in a wardrobe: it will then start his funny, absurd, definitely-atypical trip around Europe and more, that would put his life in danger but would also bring a personal growth and maturity.

The book reads very fast, it is funny, at times sparkling and it also carries a very serious and sad meaning, although not so original, as it recalls, a lot, ‎Jonas Jonasson's books.

Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki

Last week was the "World Book Day" and there was this tag going on on the networks #Ireadbecause. I don't think I would be able to describe this in one sentence, but I can tell you that one of the reason I read is 'cause it makes me travel without moving from my chair.
And it is not that I don' t travel, I do, a lot, but travelling with a book is like being hosted by a local who shows you around, the secret corners, the little spots.
This book will definitely make you travel, of course to Japan, but in particular to Gion Kobu, the Geisha homeland.
You will be sent first class to the life of Mineko, and her "struggle" to become the perfect and most influent Geisha. In this memoir we will discover the reason for this "choice", and all the efforts and giving up that this will bring to her life.

I found the book quite sad, as if you are waiting all the time for the next bad thing to happen, but despite that this book is full of courage and lots, but lots, of passion and dedication.

I got so interested and fascinated by the life of Geisha that started surfing for a bit more. I actually discovered that the famous book "Memoir of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden was inspired by the life of Mineko but that Golden apparently had told a lot of lies about the life of Geisha. This is why Mineko finally decided to write her own memoir, to tell the truth about Geisha and, especially about her life. You can understand more in this interview.

Here you can find a traditional dance of a Geisha and here a traditional Geisha's make up.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Has a book ever changed your life? People think I am crazy when I say this!

Well, I had  read this book the first time 15 years ago and I felt like I was not the same afterwards.
And this is exactly why I couldn't read it again for so long: I was scared to change the "memories", to overcome the feelings...how wrong I was!

Macondo, the imaginary place where the book is set, is a magic place, where feelings and emotions do not have boundaries, where everything is exaggerated in one sense or in the other. A place where love, guilt and passion are faces of the same coins.
No, I am not gonna tell you what is the book about, this you could easily find everywhere, I will just tell you to go to Macondo and try to stay there the longest you can, its loneliness will fill your days, the smell of banana trees will be with you for long, you will look at chestnut trees with sorrow and joy.
Macondo is the place where your emotions will sit under the shadow of a tree, while waiting for the next train, or the next plane to catch, but will you really dare and want to get it?

Remembering Márquez 

(Aracataca, 6 marzo 1927 – Città del Messico, 17 aprile 2014)

The Voice of the Violin: The Inspector Montalbano Mysteries by Andrea Camilleri

Have you have watched the (TV series): The Inspector Montalbano? It is a thriller series inspired by Camilleri's book. It is very nice, sharp and addicting. Said that, I had never read the book that inspired it, maybe 'cause I read so many thriller book when I was a teenager that I got saturated by them, but seriously, why had I not?

This book is so intense, addicting, full of suspense and, yes, also funny. Montalbano is not a normal inspector, he is "incazzuso" as we would say in slang, which cannot be really translated but means something like "prone to get pissed and annoyed". Every character in the book has his own distinct personality, that create growing interest in the book.

I recommend both the TV series and the book series!!!