Mariann sin blogg

I mentioned before my opinion on the 'For Dummies' books. It seems their main audience is children. And perhaps it is. But I do have a couple of them at home. And this one about British history was actually quite fun to read. Having studied English at University when I was young, I really ought to know more about British history than I do. But I tend to forget too much, and can never remember the correct order of all the Henrys and Richards etc. So this summer I actually started reading this book. My idea is that if I just read enough history books, I will learn something eventually. And hopefully remember it. Anyway. The book takes us from the Stone Age to modern times in less than 400 pages. That is quite an achievement. And I truly understand the need to cut away all the details. What is left is the interesting and entertaining bits. Next time, I'll read a proper history book.  Possibly. Maybe. Lang, Sean (2004): British History for Dummies . 3.ed. Chichester: Joh...

Patrick Modiano is a French author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014, which is the reason I picked up one of his books. Suspended Sentences is a collection of three separate novellas/long short stories (originally written in the late 80s/early 90s), though sometimes they seem connected. The titles are: Afterimage (Chien de printemps) (1993) Suspended sentences (Remise de peine)(1988) Flowers of ruin (Fleurs de ruine) (1991) The books is translated by Mark Polizzotti, and since I have no chance of comparing it to the original, I don't know if this is a good translation or not. Personally, I didn't like it much. I found both the style of writing and the stories themselves slightly boring, and was happy when I reached the last page. But then, I've had that feeling before with Nobel Prize winners.(So it might just be me ...) But again - perhaps the translation didn't manage to express the true greatness of Modiano's writing?   Modiano, Patrick (...

This is actually my first Murakami book. His books have always been praised in my circles, but somehow I've never set out to read one of them until now. I'm quite sure it won't be my last. As I don't understand Japanese, I've read the English translation, so my view of the book is based on this version. Written in a cool and distanced language I'm amazed on how strongly I was drawn into the story. The story itself centres around Tsukuru, who having enjoyed a happy life with his friends, suddenly is cut off from them, being told they want nothing to do with him. This has an enormous effect on his life, but he struggles through it and life goes by, without him trying to find out what happened back then. Then, one day, he meets a girl, who asks him to confront his past, and he does. And this is why I could hardly put the book down. As a reader you want to find out, perhaps even more than Tsukuru himself, what really had happened that made his friends reject him.A f...

Another infotainment book from Stephen Clarke, this time about British francophile royalty, King Edward VII, apparently also known as Dirty Bertie.  Prince Edward became a great fan of the French jet set lifestyle and was called the playboy prince. This is a book about his life, from a young boy and the eldest son of Queen Vicotira (who really didn't believe in him) until he died in 1910, a popular and respected King. An enjoyable biography of the lighter sort. Clarke, Stephen (2014). Dirty Bertie; An English King made in France . London: Century. Kindle edition.

Another book by Julian Barnes! Originally from 1984 and one of his earlier books, it isn't one of my favourites. It took a while to engage in the story, and I wasn't as charmed by it as I've been by most of his other novels. We follow a retired Flaubert scholar, trying to track down which of two stuffed parrots belonged to Flaubert. Woven into this are stories about Flaubert's life and and about the scholar himself. Still, a good read, and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 1984. Barnes, Julian (2009). Flaubert's Parrot . London: Vintage.

The full title of this book by Stephen Clarke is Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French , and if you've ever read anything by Clarke you then know this is a book making fun of the French (and the English ...) I think most of Clarke's books are witty and entertaining, and if you know the English and/or the French, I guarantee you'll laugh too:) This is a very funny guide to understanding the French - or perhaps I should say understanding the French stereotype. Examples of chapters are: Thou shalt not work - Why long weekends are good for the French economy, Thou shalt not sing in tune, Thou shalt not be served. Etc. Truly entertaining for us Anglophiles. Not sure about the Francophiles, though ... :)   Clarke, Stephen (2007). Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French . London: Black Swan. Kindle edition.

One of my favourite reads of 2014 and of course written by Julian Barnes, first published in 2005. I started reading it because it was by Barnes, and I didn't really check what is was all about. It therefore took quite a few pages until I realised that Arthur in the novel is in fact Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. George is a half-Indian solicitor who is wrongfully accused of a crime. He seeks the help of Arthur and Arthur spends considerable time and effort in not just clearing George's name, but also solving the crime. The novel is to some extent based on the true story of this case. The characters and their lives are wonderfully portrayed, and with them a glimpse of turn-of-the-century Britain. Barnes, Julian (2012): Arthur & George . London: Vintage. Kindle edition.

The last book of 2014 (actually finished early January) was Tara Brabazon's Digital Dieting: From information Obesity to Intellectual Fitness . I've written about this book in my library blog . Brabazon, Tara (2013): Digital Dieting: From Information Obesity to Intellectual Fitness . Farnham: Ashgate.

The music year 2014 has been good, but not outstanding. This made it especially difficult to range my favourite 15, since all of them were of similar quality according to my ears. I've listened to a lot of good artists, some new acquaintances, some childhood friends. I've been delighted, surprised and disappointed. In the end, 56 albums fought for a place on the top 15 list. Common for all the artists are: 1. They've released an album in 2014 2. I like them In alphabetical order (One is a librarian, after all!): The Acid, Damon Albarn, Craig Armstrong, Basement Jaxx, Bombay Bicycle Club, Julian Casablancas and the Voidz, Dum Dum Girls, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sharon van Etten, Bryan Ferry, First Aid Kit, Foster the People, Francois & the Atlas Mountains, French for Rabbits, Ed Harcourt, Hooray for Earth, Horrors, Howling Bells, I Break Horses, iamamiwhoami, Joan as Policewoman, Damien Jurado, Kaiser Chiefs, Kent, Klaxons, Daniel Lanois, Little Dragon, Lykke Li, Johnny ...

Hustvedt is a true favourite of mine. I love her clear, cerebral way of writing. This novel is written as an artist biography, and it is so realistic that I several times found myself thinking that I must find out more about the artist, Harriet Burden. We get excerpts from the artist's diaries, interviews with journalists and other artists and art critics. And it's all fiction. At the bottom of the story is Harriet Burden's attempt to prove to the art world that women artist matter less than their male counterparts. So she "constructs" three young, male artists who all exhibit her work, while the art world hails the new young males. Her theory is that if she had exhibited under her own name, no one would have cared. Everyhting doesn't go quite as planned, however, and we get a heartfelt and often sad story about the aging Burden. A very surprising book, and I really can't forget the way I was "fooled" to believe it was fact, not fiction I was...

Sometimes, when I have nothing else to read, I read some Walter Scott. Not because his novels are better than anyhting else, but because I once bought all of them for my Kindle. This summer, I read The Bethroded . The previous novel I read was The Antiquary , which I must admit was a bit of a struggle, because I found the story little rewarding. The Bethroded is a much more straight forward story with medieval knights and crusaders and kidnapping and wars and love in the 12th century somewhere along the Welsh/British border region. The 16-year old heroine, Eveline, is to be married to Sir Hugo, but he goes away on a crusade and asks his young nephew, Damian, to look after Eveline. You don't need too much of an imaginative mind to see where this leads. After various trouble and hindrances and deceit, it all ends happily for the heroine. As it should.  Scott, Walter(1825): The Bethroded . Kindle edition

There are cats. There are librarians. What's not to like? (Yes, I'm a cat-loving librarian!) Well, at least one of the cats is not very nice, so be warned. This book will probably never end up as one of the classics, but if you're into a bit of crime/supernatural/cat-fiction, this is for you. I chose this, mainly because of its wonderfully cool title! At times, a hear a slight echo from Bulgakov's Master and Margarita , but please don't misunderstand - it's nothing like it at all. It just the thing about the cat ... A bit of a strange story, this. It actually took some pages before I got properly into the story. Having not spent much time reading about it first, I was quite surprised at the slighly macabre story it ended up as. But funny and enjoyable, still. But if you don't like cats. Or talking animals. Well -this is not for you then. Truss, Lynne (2014): Cat out of Hell. London: Arrow Books. Kindle edition.

The Silkworm is Galbraith's (Rowling's) second crime novel, and holds the same high standard as the first. This time, Cormoran Strike investigates the disappearance of a not-too-famous writer. Authors and publishers are central to the story, and it's easy to imagine that Rowling must have met her fair share of people like those portrayed in the book, though hopefully not the more extreme parts of this story. As usual everything is well balanced and well written, without any boring bits. The only thing I hope will be toned down in future books is Robin's relationship issues with her fiancee. I find them a bit too fake. (Not that one should expect realism in crime fiction ...) Read this on a beach in Italy and enjoyed is very much. Looking forward to the next book. (And I wouldn't be surprised if there's a TV-series to be made!) Galbraith, Robert (2014): The Silkworm . Sphere Books. Kindle edition.

As I've said before, I don't often read crime novels. Mainly because I don't care much for gory violence and other horrible stuff. I like quiet books. But when crime novels are well written, I enjoy them as much as any other book. My type of crime novel is the ones that appeal as much to my brain as to my adrenaline. J.K Rowling (= Robert Galbraith) is simply an excellent writer. Her Harry Potter-novels are of course splendid. Her stories about private investigator Cormoran Strike is exactly how I like crime novels. He is a failure in many aspects of life, but has a brilliant mind for solving crime. In this first book, he investigates the apparent suicide of a supermodel, Lula Landry. By his side, he has a young assistant/secretary, Robin Ellacott. Together, they make a great team. I won't reveal too much if I say that Landry's death was of course murder, not suicude, and that the case gets solved satisfactorily. Who did it? You must find out yourself. It's a ...

Jeg skal innrømme at jeg er svak for Ketil Bjørnstad. Jeg liker musikken hans. Og jeg liker bøkene hans. (Selv om jeg bare har lest en håndfull av dem.) I vår leste jeg Verdens ende . Egentlig helt tilfeldig, etter et tilbud i Bokklubben jeg ikke kunne motstå. Dette er min type litteratur. Om enn litt i tristeste laget. Dette handler om død og sorg og hevn og menneskets indre krefter - og mangel på krefter. Den havner likevel aldri i nærheten av Ørstavik-kjøret og kan derfor fullt ut leses uten en følelse av at verden går under. Hele utgangspunktet med romanen er et barns død. Og ettersom dette skjer helt tidlig i romanen, kan man puste normalt de resterende sidene. Handlingen dreier seg for det meste om foreldrenes sorg, og selv om dette høres fryktelig ut, blir det ikke oversentimentalt. Det pleier det heller ikke å bli i de av Bjørnstads romaner jeg har lest så langt. Men du skal ha et hjerte av stein om du ikke føler noe som helst når du leser. Selv synes jeg det aller verste v...

Årets ferietur ble utvidet med noen dager for at vi skulle rekke å ta en tur innom York. Selvsagt! Unnskyldningen denne gangen var å se andre etappe av Tour de France som startet i nettopp York. Vi leide leilighet i Skeldergate som vanlig og troppet opp i god tid for å se på både "reklametoget" (eller hva det nå heter når sponsorene kjører gjennom byen og kaster ut reklameartikler ...) og de ordentlige syklistene. Masse folk langs hele ruta og veldig god stemning. Det regnet ikke engang:) Og plutselig var det over. Etter at syklistene hadde kommet seg vel ut av byen, var det street party i bydelen vi bodde sist. Masse folk, musikk og mat overalt. Å se sykkelløp er 99,5% venting og 0,5 % action er min konklusjon. Artig for ungan og alt det der. Men å være i York er alltid moro for hele familien. Det ble besøk hos gamle venner, shopping og selvsagt mye god mat på våre faste stamsteder - Bettys , Mannion , Wagamama , Jamie's Italian ...  Mer rakk vi ikke før vi måtte forl...

Dette er vårt tredje besøk i Monterosso al Mare. Ikke uten grunn. Byen, om man kan kalle det en by, er bitte liten og idyllisk beliggende som den nordligste av de fem Cinque Terre-byene. Her er fabelaktig lite å bruke penger på, annet enn mat og overnatting. Og stranda! De fleste (og beste) strendene er private, og det koster oss 50 € om dagen for 4 solsenger og 2 parasoller. Da er det greit at shoppingmulighetene er begrensa. I tillegg må vi ut med 18 € døgnet for parkering. Vi anbefaler for øvrig ingen å kjøre hit. Smale veier og nesten ingen parkeringsplasser å oppdrive. I selve byen er det forøvrig ikke tillatt å kjøre, hvilket vi synes er aldeles ypperlig. Denne gangen ble vi en hel uke. Det trenger man. Minst! Før vi dro var det varslet regn hver dag omtrent, men det slo heldigvis ikke til. Den ene dagen med overskyet vær og regn brukte vi til å rusle en tur opp til toppen av et lite "fjell" som skiller den gamle og nye bydelen. Der ligger byens kirkegård. Vi bor forø...

Chiavari er en liten by i Nord-Italia, ikke så langt fra Genova. Den er ikke akkurat gjennomført vakker, men innimellom finner man mange flotte kirker og palasser og handlegater med overbygde fortau. Hovedattraksjonen for turister er selvsagt de lange strendene. Når det er sagt så fikk jeg inntrykk av at Chiavari passer perfekt for den som vil feriere et stykke unna de store turistsvermene. Stort sett bare italienere overalt. For oss som kom rett fra Monterosso og Cinqueterra-området var det rett og slett deilig å slippe unna hordene av amerikanere og skandinaver man gjerne møter i disse områdene. Vi spiste for eksempel på tre utmerkede restauranter, og ingen av dem hadde mneyer på engelsk. Det synes jeg er et godt tegn! Hotellet vi bodde på var Monte Rosa. Fin resepsjon,god service, flott lite bassenganlegg, men kjiiiipe rom. Vårt rom, et familierom, var i grunnen et vanlig dobbeltrom der de hadde presset inn en køyeseng. Tenk deg en gjennomsnittlig norsk campinghytte fra 80-tallet,...

No, not that Northanger Abbey, which I of course enjoy immensly. This one is written by Val McDermid, and is a modernised version of the Austen classic. We meet the same people, but this time set in modern Britain, most of the time in Edinburgh. There's Catherine Morland, the (stupid) heroine who gets invited to the Edinburgh Book Festival by some friends of the family to keep the wife company (how likely is that!!!). She falls in love with Henry Tilney who lives at Northanger Abbey (of course). And then there is the even more stupid (and also bad) Bella Thorpe who creates a bit of drama wherever she goes. Now, it's been a while since I read the original, but I simply can't remember any of the characters being as stupid as these. The modernisation of the story simply doesn't work. The characters and their actions all seem very unlikely and more like cartoon figures. The book doesn't even work as an Austen parody, like some of the zombie-books, which are equally ba...

I have completely fallen behind on my reading updates, so I thought I'd try to catch up a bit. My most recently read book was read on the journey to Italy, where we are spending a couple of weeks this summer. I know a few words in Italian, but far from enough to talk or understand much of the language. Italian is not really difficult to learn, but as an adult I struggle because the vocabulary doesn't seem to stick as easily as it did when I was young. And of course I don't get to practice it very often. But in an effort to catch up with the few phrases I knew, I bought this book to read on the plane. I must admit I'm not really a fan of the 'for dummies'-books. I recently started British History for Dummies , and I get a bit irritated because I don't feel 'dum' enouogh. It's style is more suitable for children, I feel. But not this Italian book, though. It tries to cover an enormous area in very few pages and is thus doomed to fail. It lists so...