Reading Room

2003-08-01T22:19:00.000+01:00

Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood

2003-07-24T17:20:00.000+01:00

Red Dust: A path through China
Ma Jian

2003-07-20T17:34:00.000+01:00

Airframe
Michael Crichton

2003-07-20T17:33:00.000+01:00

The Naked Ape
Desmond Morris

2003-07-14T20:00:00.000+01:00

Inside Russia Today
John Gunther
- incomplete; book was extremely positive on the socialist merits of the Soviet Union and I got bored, so I skipped some chapters.

2003-07-09T08:17:00.000+01:00

Necessary Journeys
Granta

2003-07-07T07:52:00.000+01:00

Nowele Wybrane (pl)
(a collection of short stories)
Henryk Sienkiewicz

2003-07-01T21:08:00.000+01:00

The Good Women of China
Xinran

2003-06-29T15:37:00.000+01:00

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

2003-06-24T16:14:00.000+01:00

Lapidarium I, II & III
Ryszard Kapuscinski

2003-06-09T12:32:00.000+01:00

Fever
Robin Cook

2003-06-04T13:19:00.000+01:00

The Gluecks' Adventure in Japan
Eleanor T. Glueck

2003-06-03T07:51:00.000+01:00

One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

2003-06-01T10:45:00.000+01:00

Dzienniki 1914-1945, Vol. I (pl)
Maria Dabrowska

Not the easiest book I've ever read, Dzienniki is a diary that the author kept between 1914 to 1945. I believe, that there are also post-war diaries that she kept over the years. The first volume of the diaries concentrates on the years 1914-1925, with most of the entries being written during World War I. The entries vary from being very political and commenting on the current state of events at the time of writing to basic gossip and accounts of her friends.

While it's an interesting read, it did get slightly more tedious as the book progressed. I would have hoped for more information on the state of life in Poland during World War I, but Maria Dabrowska didn't concentrate on it. I want to read Vol. 2 of her diaries, but it won't be anytime soon.

2003-05-22T16:57:00.000+01:00

A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer

While doing my lunchtime duty in the library, one of the students returned this book and I checked it back in. As I did this, I read the back description and the first few lines of the book. I couldn't put it down. I took it out immediately and spent the next couple of days reading it. It's a very moving book and as I read it, I couldn't believe that somebody could be this cruel and heartless, not only to another human being, but her child as well. Dave Pelzer's mother treated her son worse than the family pets, worse than anything or anyone else, really. What struck me as ever worse, was the complete lack of any help from Dave's father. He just gave up and let his wife abuse their son. I'd like to read the other two books in the series, but not anytime soon. It's too upsetting.

2003-05-19T12:20:00.000+01:00

Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan
Giles Milton

A story documenting the lives and experiences of William Adams and other sailors who managed to sail to Japan and live there. It focuses especially on the failed venture of the English trading post in southern Japan in the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son.

The New York Times have written a review of this book. I think it was a good book, but not really meant for those not interested in Japan.

2003-05-09T16:36:00.000+01:00

Imperium
by Ryszard Kapuscinski

This was such a great book to read that it's taken me a long time to gather enough thoughts to write down. The book deals with the Imperium: Russia, The Soviet Union, The Federation of Commonwealth States, etc. It is divided into three parts: part 1 is set in 1939-1967 and deals with Kapuscinski's travels in Russia. Part 2 deals with Kapuscinski's travels at the time when Communism was crumbling (between 1989-1991). Part 3, set between 1992-1993, is a collection of thoughts, reflections and observations on Russia as a result of his travels.

There are many quotes that I could include here because Kapuscinski's observations are so very interesting and all-encompassing. But I will limit my quoting to a few that I really fell in love with:

The perception of change ... atrophies here; so does the need for change: man lives here in something like a state of collapse, of numbness, of internal paralysis.

This is on travel through Siberia on the train and the fact that time becomes meaningless. There's no need to constantly change your watch as you pass through the time zones, because there is no change. It is all the same: the snow, the darkness, the cold. No change.

This is the Homo sovieticus—he is not what he is because of any particular consciousness or attitude; his sole social determinant is membership in the Soviet state. Now, after the fall of this state, such people are searching for a new identity.

The so-called Soviet man is first and foremost an utterly exhausted man, and one shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have the strength to rejoice in his newly won freedom. He is a long-distance runner who reached the finish line and collapsed, dead tired, incapable even of raising his arm in a gesture of victory.

The book is filled with personal thoughts and experiences on life in Russia. Kapuscinski is a casual observer, but an informed one. His writing is clear and his thoughts are well-laid out. A brilliant book.