Sandor Marai's Embers is set in a castle at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. An old aristocrat waits to greet the friend he has not seen for forty-one years. In the course of this one night, from dinner until dawn, the two men will fight a duel of words and silences, of stories, of accusations and evasions, that will encompass their entire lives and that of a third person, missing from the candlelit dining hall - the now dead chatelaine of the castle. The last time the three of them sat together was in this room, after a stag hunt in the forest. The year was 1900. No game was shot that day, but the reverberations were cataclysmic. And the time of reckoning has finally arrived.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Hungary
Wendy said, "I just finished reading Embers, by Sandor Marai - great book which would satisfy reading about Hungary as it is set there and is also written by a Hungarian author. My review is located here.
Sandor Marai's Embers is set in a castle at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. An old aristocrat waits to greet the friend he has not seen for forty-one years. In the course of this one night, from dinner until dawn, the two men will fight a duel of words and silences, of stories, of accusations and evasions, that will encompass their entire lives and that of a third person, missing from the candlelit dining hall - the now dead chatelaine of the castle. The last time the three of them sat together was in this room, after a stag hunt in the forest. The year was 1900. No game was shot that day, but the reverberations were cataclysmic. And the time of reckoning has finally arrived.
Sandor Marai's Embers is set in a castle at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. An old aristocrat waits to greet the friend he has not seen for forty-one years. In the course of this one night, from dinner until dawn, the two men will fight a duel of words and silences, of stories, of accusations and evasions, that will encompass their entire lives and that of a third person, missing from the candlelit dining hall - the now dead chatelaine of the castle. The last time the three of them sat together was in this room, after a stag hunt in the forest. The year was 1900. No game was shot that day, but the reverberations were cataclysmic. And the time of reckoning has finally arrived.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Ireland
Amy said, "I read Anne Enright's novel The Gathering for Ireland in the challenge. Here is a link to my review." Bonnie added, "I want to read the book now, after reading Amy's review, which ends with a fascinating quote."
Anne Enright is one of Ireland’s most singular voices. The Gathering is a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family. The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him — something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in the body, not in the stars.
__________
Wendy also also thought this was a great book about Ireland. Here's her review.
There are so few people given us to love...We each love someone, even though they will die. And we keep loving them, even when they are not there to love anymore. And there is no logic or use to any of this, that I can see.
Anne Enright is one of Ireland’s most singular voices. The Gathering is a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family. The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him — something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in the body, not in the stars.__________
Wendy also also thought this was a great book about Ireland. Here's her review.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Jill said, "I just finished People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. While this book had many settings, I chose this book for Yugoslavia because I feel that it's a wonderful testiment to the multi-cultural city of Sarajevo and hope that the war wounds will continue to heal for this beautiful city. Here is my review.
The setting for People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks is Europe, as the author takes us to places as far apart as Sarajevo and Seville, as close as Vienna and Venice. But Jill is right: most of it is set in Sarajevo, which is currently the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia, which no longer exists. (Wow, is that sentence convoluted enough, or what?) Here's the story:
In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding — an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair — she begins to unlock the book's mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation.
In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.
__________
This book is being discussed now, during March, on the Book Buddies blog.
The setting for People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks is Europe, as the author takes us to places as far apart as Sarajevo and Seville, as close as Vienna and Venice. But Jill is right: most of it is set in Sarajevo, which is currently the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia, which no longer exists. (Wow, is that sentence convoluted enough, or what?) Here's the story:In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding — an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair — she begins to unlock the book's mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation.
In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.
__________
This book is being discussed now, during March, on the Book Buddies blog.
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