Long Life - Mary Oliver

There's some kind of link between this book and the one in the previous post. Mary Oliver was a poet and here we have some poems and essays. She was 68 years old when the book was published and I suposse the title refers to that fact. Mostly she writes about the beauty of nature around her home near Cape Cod.

17 segundo - Kirmen Uribe

Azken 17 urteetan zehar idatzi dituen olerki eta testu laburrak biltzen dira hemen. Bere betiko sentiberatasun fina erakusten du. Estilo erraza, zuzena, edonorengan eragina izateko modukoa. Familia, lagunak, herria, horiek dira mundu poetiko honen oinarriak. Tamainaz bakarrik txikia den liburuzka.

El orden del día - Eric Vuillard

Breve texto que narra sobre todo la anexión de Austria a manos de la Alemania nazi. También denuncia la ayuda de las fortunas industriales al dictador. Más ensayo histórico que novela, aunque el lenguaje es literario. Pinta un Hitler histriónico y unos nazis más fantoches que otra cosa a los que las potencias occidentales no supieron parar a tiempo.

The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead

Racism was a huge issue in the United States until very recently, if not terrible right now. The Nickel Boys refer to those young black boys who spent a few years in that fictional place in Florida for orphans, minor criminals or simply unlucky people, like these Elwood Curtis and Jack Turner, the main characters. Entertaining enough.

El cielo de Lima - Juan Gómez Bárcena

Con la colaboración especial de un veinteañero Juan Ramón Jiménez, esta es una novela metaliteraria, que encuentra el equilibrio entre ficción y realidad. De paso, el cuadro de la época, principios del siglo XX en Lima, se antoja verosímil. Vigilen a este autor.

The Hours - Michael Cunningham

Back in time I liked the movie very much and I have tried now the novel. I have enjoyed it. Three stages alternate: London 1923 (Virginia Woolf), Los Angeles 1949 and New York 1996 (year up or down). Depression and love (plus aids in the last one) are somehow the themes. Written in a quite beautiful and sensitive way.

Miñan - Amets Arzallus, Ibrahima Balde

Baldek frantsesez (nik uste) kontatu zion eta Arzallusek euskaraz idatzi du. Honek bere ikutua eman dio, jakina, baina gehienbat estilo xumea mantendu du. Kontaketa zuzen hori oso adierazgarria suertatzen da, Gineatik Europarako bidaia bere krudeltasun osoan erakusten zaigu.

Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell

It is not the complete biography, that would have been a magnificient achievement, I have read the abridged edition published in 1917 (available in Project Gutenberg). Johnson was a seventeenth century intellectual, and a peculiar one. The best conversationalist and a true believer, in this book Boswell details the anecdotes of twenty years of relationship.

Siete noches - Jorge Luis Borges

Siete conferencias que dio Borges en Buenos Aires en 1977 y que luego pulió para su publicación en 1980. Los temas: La Divina Comedia, La pesadilla, Las mil y una noches, El budismo, La poesía, La cábala y La ceguera. Extraordinaria erudición que no se hace pesada por su recurso contínuo a la anécdota.

Too Much Happiness - Alice Munro

Nine short stories set in Munro's usual Canadian landscapes plus a historical fiction, the one that titles the entire book, about a russian matemathician, Sofia Kovalevskaya. High-level prose all the time, subtle details over and over again. Munro was elderly when she published this, but she maintained all her skill all the same.

Reina - Elizabeth Duval

Esta es una primera novela, que puede que sea la última si la autora decide seguir por otros caminos. Escrita antes de los veinte años ,con la ventaja del nombre internacional, no se le puede negar precocidad y audacia. Reina es lo que se proclama y el paisaje de su auto-ficción es la aventura de salir a estudiar el primer años de universidad en París. No soy la "lectora" a la que se dirige, pero he apreciado sus reflexiones.

The Monster Loves his Labyrinth - Charles Simic

Notebooks, it's the explanatory subtitle. These are some anecdotes from his life, general reflections and a series of aforisms. He is especially concerned with what it is to be a poet today, and how he sees poetry. Plus his criticism of critics. In any circumstance he favors humor. Born serbian himself, desapproves of nationalisms.

Los cinco y yo - Antonio Orejudo

Divertimento donde se juntan la infancia del autor, su amigo Rafael Reig y un homenaje a los libros de los cinco de Enid Blyton. Aquellos libros infantiles que aunque, vistos con objetividad, son poco menos que horribles, fascinaban a los niños de la época. Convertidos todos en personajes, la trama se desboca y acaba en Almería entre conspiraciones farmaceúticas.

The Fountain Overflows - Rebecca West

No idea what the reason for the title is. The novel is a quite delightful story about a peculiar family. Everyone is a genius in some way and also a misfit in some other way. The narrator is a young girl with great aptitude for music but even greater for writing, as we can clearly see. It reminds me of some classics, Little Women, Mary Poppins, even if it's not just for young people. The story it's set at the turn of the 19h to the 20th century.