My ear at his heart - Hanif Kureishi

"Reading my father" is the explaining subtitle. Kureishi is a well known writer, a professional we could say. His father was an employee at the Pakistan embassy in London... and a writer too, just that he did'nt see any of his novels published. This book is a literary essay about the relationship between them and in extension about all the ample hindu-pakistani family Hanif comes from. This is a kind of book I have come increasingly interested in. Those books where a writer tells us about his ideas, wishes, emotions or experiences without using the (not always necessary) tool named "novel". I have felt after the reading that a trace of sadness lingered in the air.

The Good Life - Steve Berra (2007)

Steve Berra (born May 10, 1973) is an american professional skateboarder. Wikipedia. Surprisingly he's also the writer and director of this film prized in the Sundance Festival. The story is about a boy brought up, of all places, in Lincoln, Nebraska. A boy not without some (serious) problems, and surrounded by a bunch of people with their own ones. Among those people a girl, quite mysterious and good looking. There's also an old cinema where they watch old movies. The atmosphere is quite oppresive but human relationships save the day. A particularly touching moment is when the girl sings "On the sunny side of the street".

Funny Face - Stanley Donen (1957)

These are the fifties and that is little skinny Audrey (Hepburn) smiling, dancing and even singing in Paris. Along with Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson. The music is by George Gershwin and the final song is the well known "'S Wonderful". The story is an alibi for the colour and the beauty and the music and the dancing. Do you know that scene when Audrey (Hepburn) is coming down the stairs in a glamorous red dress?. Well, it's in this picture. Donen was thirty three at the time, and had already directed half a dozen first rate musicals.

De qué hablo cuando hablo de correr - Hakuri Murakami

Un pequeño y ameno libro para saber algo de Murakami. Comprobamos que más allá del idioma los seres humanos somos muy parecidos. Parecidos dentro de que "hay gente pa tó", claro. Sus novelas gustan mucho ahora mismo por aquí y lo que yo no sabía es que Murakami corre una maratón cada año. Bueno no sabía eso ni nada más, salvo su edad y origen étnico. Y que le gustaban los Beatles, Norwegian Wood. Aquí explica sus sensaciones corriendo y también escribiendo. De paso que se explaya sobre sus entrenamientos en Hawai, Boston o Japón nos cuenta retazos de su vida. Sólo retazos ya que es bastante reservado y, por ejemplo, nombra a su mujer de pasada varias veces sin decir ni mu sobre ella. Quizás soy demasiado curioso...