A literary and cultural blog dedicated to book reviews, literary travel, art, museums, and thoughtful reading across borders and cultures.
‘Honeymoon’ by Patrick Modiano is an evocative, melancholic tale, and, at times, it resembles a frame from “film noir” of the 1950s. Modiano presents the lives of the protagonists from the point of an observer, never depicting the reality in a straightforward manner, but rather showing different angles, playing with […]
A few pictures from my favourite place on Earth: Edinburgh….. Edinburgh is a place that I hope to call “home” one day. Every time I am in Edinburgh, I get this strange feeling of coming back home. Edinburgh heals my soul – all my worries, all my sadness seem to […]
Melmoth by Sarah Perry is a tale of moral complexity related to the human condition. Perry’s book draws upon Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin written in 1820 which once was a well-read book with a greater significance. Perry retells the legend of Melmoth, the loneliest being in this […]
I recently visited Mexico City – Ciudad de Mexico. It is a magical city, full of colour, vibrant atmosphere where the old meets the new at every corner. It is a beautiful place in all its diversity but also sadly with many inequalities being apparent every step you take.
“I would be reading at my desk, something she deemed part and parcel of my job, and considerate as she was, she kept me company but left me undisturbed. We were two solitudes benefiting from a grace that was continuously reinvigorated in each other’s presence, two solitudes who nourished each […]
“The possibility of an immediate and wholesale decimation of civilization was not half as frightening as the simple realization that our individual passing had no impact on the order of things, and life would go on just the same with or without us.” “We must do what we can to […]
“When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled, anxious, alienated, terrified: Or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity, then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship of an empathic stance . . . provides illumination and healing. In such situations, deep understanding […]
Reunion by Fred Uhlman is a small book—depending on the edition, just over ninety pages long. It tells the story of a friendship between two young boys, Konrad and Hans, growing up in Germany in the 1930s, where the political landscape was changing drastically. Hans was born into an assimilated […]
