COFFEE BOOK TAG

Hello everybody!

It's been a long time since I wrote my last post: on this month, I started to attend my last year of university, or at least the last one of my Bachelor's degree (I study Cross-cultural Communication). In fact, I would like to keep on studying to get also the specialist degree in Anthropology and Ethnology. We shall see!

However, as you can read in the title of this post, today we are dealing with books! I found this tag in a video of an Italian book-Tuber (here the link) and I've thought I could write my own list based on this unusual yet interesting tag.

1. Black: Name a series/book that's tough to get into but has hardcore fans.

For me, it's the Harry Potter saga. I have to admit that I have never read any of the books, I have only watched the films, but I don't manage to get into it. I really like some of the characters, I love the theme of magic and the kind-of-gothic atmosphere, but there's nothing that encourages me to start to read all the books.

2. Peppermint mocha: Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or a festive time of year.

The first one that comes in my mind is "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. When I was a child, I watched the Disney film, Mickey's Christmas Carol, in which there's Scrooge McDuck who plays Ebenezer Scrooge. Ah, what memories!

3. Hot chocolate: What is your favorite children's book?

When I went to England in 2013, I visited the Roald Dahl's museum at Great Missenden, so I say that my favourite children book is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I have also watched the two films based on the book, the first version, "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971) starring Gene Wilder, and the last one, starring Johnny Depp, of the 2005.

4. Double shot of espresso: Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

One day, by chance, I watched on TV "Pride & Prejudice" and I loved it so much that I decided to read also the book, written by one my favourite writer: Jane Austen. Even if I already knew the plot, I couldn't stop reading it. I remember even at dinner I put the book on the table and I kept on reading it so that I didn't waste any minute.
  

5. Starbucks: Name a book you see everywhere.

I see everywhere "Me before you" by Jojo Moyes. I watched the film at the cinema and I think it's a nice film: the actors are really good and they manage to show a love story without being too banal.

6. That hipster coffee shop: Give a book by an indie author.

I use to read books written by famous authors, the so-called "classic" books, so I would like to mention the sequel of a book which is less famous than the first one: this book is "No Coward Soul", the sequel of "Reunion", written by Fred Uhlman. In "Reunion" the protagonist is Hans Schwarz, a Jewish boy who lives during the rise of the Nazi regime and who tells the story of his difficult friendship with Conrad Von Hohenfels, a young aristocrat. In "No coward soul", the point of view changes and the story is told by Conrad, who has the possibility to explain to his friend the reasons of his choices.

7. Oops! I accidentally got decaf: Name a book you were expecting more from.

I've just finished reading "Island Beneath The Sea" by Isabel Allende. This is a book I began in 2014, but I never finished reading it: I stopped when I hadn't reached the middle of it yet, because I had to study for the High School diploma. The only thing I remembered was the fact that I liked it, so I convinced myself to find the time to re-read it from the first chapter. I had high expectation and now I can't say I didn't like it, but I would have liked to read a more realistic story.

8. The perfect blend: Name a book or series that was both bitter and sweet but ultimately satisfying.

I have two books for this category: "Asylum" by Patrick McGrath and "Elective Affinities" by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. Both of them recounts tragic stories, even if they are completely different, from the setting to the characters to the topics, but I enjoyed reading them, because they are captivating from the beginning and the story is unpredictable.

----------------------------------------

If you want, fell free to write in the comments your own list or if you know some of the books I mention. 

Bye for now

Yours, Silvia

Lives like red leaves - SPRING SNOW (review)

Here we are with my review of the book "Spring Snow" written by Yukio Mishima.

As I said yesterday, you can read it both in English and Italian.

Enjoy.

----



I have bought this book by chance, because I got curious about the title and the beautiful cover chosen by the editor, which shows a maple inflamed by the current Autumn. Now that I have finished reading the book, I think I know the reason of this choice: the perfect representation of the symbol of the precariousness of life, that is the red-thinned leaves of this particular type of tree (which is present in the book in various occasions).

The contrast between the light red and the dark brown gives to the photo a tragic atmosphere, as if we are in front of a human with his veins crossing his entire body. And this could be true, because the protagonist (who is different from the protagonist of the tetralogy “The Sea Of Fertility” of which “Spring Snow” is the first volume) is like a maple, delicate, red because he is overwhelmed by disparate passions and permanently tormented by doubts, by the will of act but the immobility in the practical side, as the leaves hung on the branches, which stand still until it comes an inevitable breeze.
One of the themes is the beauty and the difficulty in living with it: “bisogna fare della propria vita come si fa un’opera d’arte” (Gabriele D’Annunzio: “we have to live like our life itself is an artwork”), but it's not always so easy to follow our aesthetic ideals. Life is often unpredictable and makes us bump into something much larger than ourselves which we can't avoid.
This happens also to the imperturbable Kiyoaki Matsugae, who is an example of an ancient Japan, of that floating world above the clouds of the 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e), separated from the vile acts of the common people. He and his friend, the rational Honda Shingekuni, are two faces of their country after the Meiji restoration: tradition vs modernity, closed-mindedness vs opening up to new possibilities (in fact Honda is interested in the study of the Western thinking as Aristotle), the Court etiquette vs the free will. It isn't easy to define which of them is destined to overcome the other. This is a question still remarkable to which we can't give a certain answer. On one hand it is not possible to forget past and traditions and it isn't fair, on the other hand, to let the traditions become restrictions. In this case, they limit us, forcing us to feel guilty and devastated by them from the inside.
These limitations affect Kiyoaki and also Satoko Ayakura - the woman he loves-, even if the starting friction between them is caused by Kiyoaki, who doesn't understand early what he really feels for her. His fight is an interior one: he doesn't know what it is more important, his individuality or the love for Satoko, his pride or the listening of what he desires deeply.
It's not an easy path, because it is full of obstacles and lies which infect the profound core of the Japanese ethical standards, as if it is an inevitable catharsis to reach the real happiness.
At the end, when everything he has done seems vain and lost forever, he manages to stand out from the world, becoming the protagonist of a tragic play full of pathos and strong feelings sustained by aesthetic rules of the aristocracy.
His eternal melancholy and his coolness towards the material world, his attitude perfectly summarised by the Japanese expression 物の哀れ(mono no aware) have led Kiyoaki to a tortuous and sublime road, as he is walking every instant on a thin line which represents, maybe, the real essence of beauty.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ho comprato questo libro per caso, incuriosita dal titolo e dalla bellissima copertina scelta dall’editore, che raffigura un acero infuocato dall’autunno in atto. Ora che ho concluso il libro forse ho capito il motivo di questa scelta: la rappresentazione per eccellenza di uno dei simboli della precarietà della vita, perfettamente espresso dalle meravigliose foglie rosse e sottili dell’acero (presente nel libro e citato a più riprese).
Il contrasto tra il tenue rosso e il marrone quasi nero dei rami dona all’immagine un aspetto tragico, quasi ci trovassimo davanti a un essere umano dotato di venature che attraversano tutto il suo corpo. E potrebbe essere vero, poiché il protagonista del libro (che è diverso, invece, dal protagonista della tetralogia “Il mare della fertilità” di cui “Neve di primavera” rappresenta il primo volume) è proprio come un acero, delicato, rosso poiché attraversato dalle passioni più disparate e perennemente tormentato dai dubbi, dalla volontà di agire ma dall’immobilità sul lato pratico, proprio come le foglie appese ai rami, ferme ma danzanti se scosse da una brezza esterna a cui non si possono sottrarre.
Uno dei temi di questo libro è rappresentato dalla bellezza e dalla difficoltà nel conviverci: “bisogna fare della propria vita come si fa un’opera d’arte” (Gabriele D’Annunzio), ma non è così semplice essere fedeli ai propri ideali estetici. Spesso la vita è imprevedibile e ci fa scontrare con qualcosa di molto più grande di noi a cui non possiamo sottrarci.
Questo succede anche all’imperturbabile Kiyoaki Matsugae, esempio in Giappone antico, di quel mondo fluttuante sulle nuvole degli 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e), distaccato dalle bassezze delle persone comuni. Lui e il suo migliore amico, il razionale Honda Shingekuni, rappresentano le due facce del loro Paese dopo la restaurazione Meiji, la tradizione e la modernità, la “chiusura” mentale e l’apertura verso nuove possibilità ( Honda, infatti, è interessato allo studio del pensiero occidentale, per esempio di Aristotele), l’etichetta di corte e la libertà di agire. Quale dei due sia destinato a trionfare non è facile da stabilire. Si tratta di una domanda ancora attuale a cui non è possibile rispondere con assoluta certezza. Vero è che non è possibile rimuovere del tutto il passato e le tradizioni; non è nemmeno giusto, tuttavia, lasciare che queste tradizioni diventino  restrizioni limitandoci, costringendoci a sentire laceranti sensi di colpa che ci distruggono dall’interno.
Queste limitazioni interessano Kiyoaki come pure Satoko Ayakura, la sua innamorata, anche se la iniziale antipatia tra i due è causata da Kiyoaki, che impiega molto tempo a capire quello che realmente prova per la ragazza. La sua è una lotta interiore che riguarda la scelta di cosa sia più importante, se la sua individualità o l’amore per Satoko, se il suo orgoglio o l’ascolto di ciò che, in profondità, desidera ardentemente.
Non è un percorso semplice, ma costellato di ostacoli e anche menzogne che infettano il cuore profondo del codice etico del Giappone, quasi si trattasse di una catarsi inevitabile per raggiungere la vera felicità. Alla fine, quando tutto sembra vanificato e perduto per sempre, egli riesce comunque a stagliarsi al di sopra del mondo, diventando protagonista di uno scenario tragico carico di pathos e forti sentimenti, ma sorretto comunque dalle regole estetiche apprese dal mondo dell’aristocrazia di cui sia lui sia Satoko sono parte. La sua perenne malinconia, quel freddo distacco dal mondo terreno, il suo comportamento, perfettamente riassunto dall’espressione 物の哀れ(mono no aware) hanno condotto Kiyoaki a seguire una via tortuosa e sublime, quasi si trovasse in ogni istante su un filo sottile che rappresenta, forse, la vera essenza della bellezza.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See you soon

Yours, Silvia

WILD SOULS - Paradise Lost

Some time ago, I was studying for an exam: in particular, I was reading a very interesting book, full of pathos, struggle, strong passions, pride, royalty, inprisonent, good vs evil...

This epic book is "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.

During High School (liceo classico) I read epic poems, as Odyssey and Aeneid and parts of other italian epic poems written between XVI and XVII centuries, so I was familiar with that genre and with the writing style. Anyway, it stroke my attention.

The main character in this poem is Satan, the fallen angel who challenged God and wanted to reign in Heaven.

I would like to analyze two parts of this poem, which, in my opinion, highlight the ability of the author in building a perfect round character, without falling into banal.

<< […] Here at least
we shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
to reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.>>

•Book I, 258-263)

 

 

<< […] Me miserable! Which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep
Still threatening to devour me opens wide,
To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven.>>
•Book IV, 73–78

 

In the first passage, Satan tries to convince the other fallen angels that Paradise is lost for sure for them, but that there is still something "positive": they're finally free, what he considers a tyranny has come to an end.

 

Milton displays Satan as the Romantic hero, the one who can't bear any kind of oppression and who wants to build his own destiny. He is aware of his strength and power and he isn't afraid of facing God, his laws and his power.

The Romantic hero has also a "dark" side, full of hesitations and doubts. In fact, in the second passage, we can see a fearful hero, who is no more sure about what he has planned to do. It seems that he regrets his first speech: "myself am Hell" is a strong expression, which darkens his pride, which shows his internal fight between good and evil.

The Milton's Satan is not only an angel, but a man, with his fears, his vices and virtues, his darker side and his conscience.

I love this book, because there is not only the Biblic story, but something more, something that makes you meditate on.

See you soon

Yours, Silvia