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Overklassedrama fra 1920-tallets USA

Denne var fin.
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (f. 1896 d. 1940) blir omtalt som et amerikansk storverk og Fitzgerald regnes som en av de største amerikanske forfatterne i det 20. århundre. Jeg valgte å lese The Great Gatsby etter å ha leste Norwegian Wood av Haruki Murakami som har et spesielt forhold til denne boka.

I would pull it off the shelf when the mood hit me and read a section at random. It never once disappointed me. There wasn’t a boring page in the whole book. I wanted to tell people what a wonderful novel it was, but no one around me had read The Great Gatsby or was likely to. (Norwegian Wood, H. Murakami).

Boka er ypperlig skrevet, og plottet er overraskende. Jeg leste eboka på engelsk, og nøt hver side. I tillegg har boka det historiske bildet som tegnes fra denne tiden (1920-årene) som er svært interessant. Jeg gir boka en sterk 5 er - helt på grensen til en seks´er.
Skal ikke se bort i fra at jeg vil lese boka igjen senere.

En spennende mørk krim. Under psynonymet Robert Galbraith har J.K.Rowling igjen skapt intens spenning. Jeg liker måten Rowling skriver på. Jeg liker denne Cormoran-Strike-serien.
Ondskapens kall har flere ekle scener i seg enn de to tidligere bøkene, men det gikk bra for en litt sart sjel som meg, som helst ikke vil ha for mange detaljer om drap og vold i krimbøkene.
En krimbok som absolutt anbefales.

It is a beautiful, beautiful book.

Immigration, race, family dynamics are all mixed in with a love story that questions fate and nihilism along the way.

Enjoy!

A light, quick read by the Queen of suspense, Mary Higgins Clark.
Probably not her best, but overall, I enjoy the light, clean mysteries these stories provide.
For those of you who participate in Popsugar Reading Challenge. This crime story fits well to the prompt: A book written by two women. Could also fit a beach read :)

En ungdomsbok jeg vil anbefale å ha i bokhylla der ungdom ferdes. Dette er ikke bare en bok om en ung jente, men også en bok om hvordan det er å leve i et område kontrollert av mafia. Boka forteller at livet er sårbart. Boka handler om en virkelig hendelse, 14 år gamle Annalisa fra Napoli, som tilfeldigvis kommer i skuddlinjen når rivaliserende mafiamedlemmer utløser skudd mot hverandre. Boka er en grafisk roman som veksler mellom fortelling og dagbok. Dagbøkene representerer det autentiske, det virkelige, gjengitt med tillatelse fra jentens foreldre. Forfatteren, Cacace, fått bruke deler av Annalisas dagbok for å fortelle norske ungdommer om en ung jentes tanker om hvordan det er å leve i Forcella, om hennes framtidsdrømmer, forelskelse og venner, men også om uro og utrygghet for vold og kriminalitet. Under rettsaken i forbindelse med drapet, var det ingen som turte å vitne mot mafiaen. Den lokale presten støttet Annalisas familie. Cacaces bok er derfor også et modig opprør mot mafiaens ”lov om taushet” (omertà).

Boka inneholder noen av Poe's fantastiske noveller som "Sladrehjertet" (Tell-Tale-heart) og Huset Ushers fall m.flere som regnes for å være noe av det ypperste verdenslitteraturen kan by på. Boka inneholder også tekster som for meg var mindre interessante, men som nok har betydning for de ønsker et dypere bekjentskap med angstens forfatter, eller skrekkens mester som noen kaller ham.

Her pupils murdered her daughter. Now she will have her revenge.
After calling off her engagement in the wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old child, Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation. But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a diabolical plot for revenge. Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you'll never see coming, Confessions probes the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in danger. You'll never look at a classroom the same way again.

"'There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year.'"

Harry Potter's summer has included the worst birthday ever, doomy warnings from a house-elf called Dobby, and rescue from the Dursleys by his friend Ron Weasley in a magical flying car! Back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year, Harry hears strange whispers echo through empty corridors - and then the attacks start. Students are found as though turned to stone... Dobby's sinister predictions seem to be coming true. Theme music composed by James Hannigan

"'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go.'"

When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it's the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run - and they say he is coming after Harry. In his first ever Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry's tea leaves... But perhaps most terrifying of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds, with their soul-sucking kiss...

"'Give me Harry Potter,' said Voldemort's voice, 'and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.'"

As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin - Harry must stand and face his enemy...

"'Give me Harry Potter,' said Voldemort's voice, 'and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.'"

As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin - Harry must stand and face his enemy...

Book 4

This book is full of adventures

The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter - but that doesn't stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at Hallowe'en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons and Dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through - alive!

"'You are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.'"

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors' attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord's return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort's savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time...

"There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a building… wherever they had murdered…"

When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why. Secrets and suspicion are spreading through the wizarding world, and Hogwarts itself is not safe. Harry is convinced that Malfoy bears the Dark Mark: there is a Death Eater amongst them. Harry will need powerful magic and true friends as he explores Voldemort's darkest secrets, and Dumbledore prepares him to face his destiny...

"There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a building… wherever they had murdered…"

When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why. Secrets and suspicion are spreading through the wizarding world, and Hogwarts itself is not safe. Harry is convinced that Malfoy bears the Dark Mark: there is a Death Eater amongst them. Harry will need powerful magic and true friends as he explores Voldemort's darkest secrets, and Dumbledore prepares him to face his destiny...

"'You are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.'"

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors' attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord's return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort's savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time...

Book 4

This book is full of adventures

The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter - but that doesn't stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at Hallowe'en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons and Dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through - alive!

Set in the '60s, "Norwegian Wood" is about a young japanese student called Toru Watanabe, who looks back to the days of his youth and the people he connected with during that time when he was a student i Tokyo. So is there no love-story? There are allusions to love, but there is no love-story. The prime themes of "Norwegian Wood" are loneliness, the feeling of utter weariness and discontent, depression and suicide. Though, like most Murakami plots, these themes are brought about with some subtlety

Kris is a young Peace Corp volunteer and her request for assignment was Mali. She meets Monique, who's a young midwife in a poor village. I learned many heartbreaking facts about Mali, one of the poorest nations in the world. Monique quickly takes Kris under her wing and with Monique she experiences birth. The birth house, one of the only places women may have privacy is in a horrible shape and eventually the Peace Corp give their approval to have the birth house rebuilt. This is a worthy story about daily life struggle in Mali.

Schindlers liste er et bemerkelsesverdig roman basert på den sanne historien om tyskeren, industrimannen og krigsprofitøren, Oskar Schindler, som stilt overfor utrydningsleirenes grusomheter, satset alt for å redde 1300 jøder fra gasskamrene. Ved hjelp av faktiske vitnesbyrd fra Schindlers jøder, skildrer Thomas Keneally Schindlers innsats for jødene under andre verdenskrig.

Jeg valgte denne boka som en punkt på en leseutfordring - en bok om en virkelig person.
I tillegg skal jeg besøke Schindler-museet i Krakow denne høsten (2018), så derfor falt det naturlig å velge denne boken til min leseutfordring. Keneally sin bok er en enestående beretning, og jeg ser fram til å besøke museet. Romanen er ikke nødvendigvis en litterær bragd, men innholdet er så viktig å få med seg.

"En forbløffende fortelling ... i dette tilfellet er sannheten langt mektigere enn noe fantasien er i stand til å dikte opp." skriver Newsweek i sin anmeldelse.

Keneally bruke to år på å reise rundt i åtte land og intervjue flere av de jødene som Schindler reddet og leste de mange vitneutsagnene som er samlet i Yad Vashem i Jerusalem, Israel.
Jeg fikk anledning til å besøke Yad Vashem i 2017 - en svært sterk opplevelse, spesielt den del av senteret som handler om Krakow og Auschwitz som jeg besøkte i 2015 med Aktive Fredsreiser.

Ønsker du å lære mer om Krakow og Holocaust, kan jeg anbefale denne boka. Jeg har ikke sett filmen - får ta den senere.

Thomas Keneally ble tildelt Booker-prisen for Schindlers liste i 1982.