Bookworms: Monthly Readings, March 2017
Books I read in April:
Andrzej Sapkowski “The witcher. Time of Contempt”;
François Rabelais “Gargantua and Pantagruel”;
Narine Abgaryan “People who always stay with me”;
Tove Jansson “Moominland Midwinter”.
Andrzej Sapkowski
The witcher. Time of Contempt
Country – Poland
Year – 1995
Language – Polish
Genre – Fantasy
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Andrzej Sapkowski is a popular Polish fantasy writer. Like George Martin, you know, only cooler 😀. His book series The Witcher gained a worldwide recognition and became one of the New York Times bestsellers. Time of Contempt is not the first novel in the series, but it happened to be the first I read. I bought the complete book series the second I finished the novel - it is THAT good.
The fantasy world created by the author is dark, intriguing and captivating. Geralt, the witcher, a mutant who hunts deadly monsters and has a mission to protect Siri, a child of prophecy, is one of the coolest characters of the fantasy genre literature. He is a fighter for righteousness who possesses all those amazing manly qualities and stands for impartiality. But who doesn't, you would ask, and what's new about him? Personally I don't think there is a need for anything new until the balance between good and evil is found and the humanity can shift its attention to something NEW. Anyways, Geralt is straightforward and courageous with a charming tongue in cheek manner and, of course, the killer looks. Oh, and his heart belongs to one woman. For good, you know😏. Besides all the delights of a fantasy saga, the Witcher has an extra layer of dry humor and intellectual, sometimes philosophical discourse.
Year – 1995
Language – Polish
Genre – Fantasy
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Andrzej Sapkowski is a popular Polish fantasy writer. Like George Martin, you know, only cooler 😀. His book series The Witcher gained a worldwide recognition and became one of the New York Times bestsellers. Time of Contempt is not the first novel in the series, but it happened to be the first I read. I bought the complete book series the second I finished the novel - it is THAT good.
The fantasy world created by the author is dark, intriguing and captivating. Geralt, the witcher, a mutant who hunts deadly monsters and has a mission to protect Siri, a child of prophecy, is one of the coolest characters of the fantasy genre literature. He is a fighter for righteousness who possesses all those amazing manly qualities and stands for impartiality. But who doesn't, you would ask, and what's new about him? Personally I don't think there is a need for anything new until the balance between good and evil is found and the humanity can shift its attention to something NEW. Anyways, Geralt is straightforward and courageous with a charming tongue in cheek manner and, of course, the killer looks. Oh, and his heart belongs to one woman. For good, you know😏. Besides all the delights of a fantasy saga, the Witcher has an extra layer of dry humor and intellectual, sometimes philosophical discourse.
"And if someone has friends, and he loses everything in spite of that, it's obvious the friends are to blame. For what they did, or for what they didn't do."
François Rabelais
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Country – France
Year – 1532
Language – French
Genre – Satire
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Gargantua and Pantagruel - a farcical novel, written in the 16th century, ridicules human cunning sordid ways and ignoble nature, which sadly did not change much since five centuries ago. The novel is full of vulgarity, violence and obscene humor, so it might scare away a puritan and offend a sensitive reader. However, if you enjoy dry humor, not afraid of grotesque vile scenes and shamelessly revealed most unpleasant sides of human nature, be prepared to get amused by this curious and clever literature masterpiece. The author's satire, allusions, imaginary events are intriguing, provocative and hilarious.
Year – 1532
Language – French
Genre – Satire
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Gargantua and Pantagruel - a farcical novel, written in the 16th century, ridicules human cunning sordid ways and ignoble nature, which sadly did not change much since five centuries ago. The novel is full of vulgarity, violence and obscene humor, so it might scare away a puritan and offend a sensitive reader. However, if you enjoy dry humor, not afraid of grotesque vile scenes and shamelessly revealed most unpleasant sides of human nature, be prepared to get amused by this curious and clever literature masterpiece. The author's satire, allusions, imaginary events are intriguing, provocative and hilarious.
Readers, friends, if you turn these pagesPut your prejudice aside,For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.Not that I sit here glowing with prideFor my book: all you'll find is laughter:That's all the glory my heart is after,Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.I'd rather write about laughing than crying,For laughter makes men human, and courageous.
Narine Abgaryan
People who always stay with me
(My literal translation of the book’s title. The book has not been translated into English yet)
Country – Armenia
Year – 2014
Language – Russian
Genre – Novel
Read in Russian (print)
The book has not been translated into English yet, thus it would be unfair of me to allure you into reading something you can't read. 😏 I'd like to drop the author's name though to draw attention to a rising star of Armenian origin. Narine Abgaryan has a beautiful unique descriptive language and depicts her childhood, Armenian culture and character in such a cosy, comforting way one can truly relate to.
Year – 2014
Language – Russian
Genre – Novel
Read in Russian (print)
The book has not been translated into English yet, thus it would be unfair of me to allure you into reading something you can't read. 😏 I'd like to drop the author's name though to draw attention to a rising star of Armenian origin. Narine Abgaryan has a beautiful unique descriptive language and depicts her childhood, Armenian culture and character in such a cosy, comforting way one can truly relate to.
Tove Jansson
Moominland Midwinter
Country – Finland
Year – 1957
Language – Swedish
Genre – Children's novel
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Yet again I am reading, or rather listening to, Tove Jansson's Moomin stories. I wrote about a few novels in my previous posts here and here, so I won't repeat myself. I will only brag once more - Moomin stories are awesome. Exclamation point. And if you have kids - please don't deprive them of this great pleasure of getting to know the Moomin world. 😊
Year – 1957
Language – Swedish
Genre – Children's novel
Listened to an audio [in Russian]
Yet again I am reading, or rather listening to, Tove Jansson's Moomin stories. I wrote about a few novels in my previous posts here and here, so I won't repeat myself. I will only brag once more - Moomin stories are awesome. Exclamation point. And if you have kids - please don't deprive them of this great pleasure of getting to know the Moomin world. 😊
Did you read any of these books?
What are your recent reads?
Thank you, as always, for spending your time on my page!
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