Thursday, August 13, 2009

In My Suitcase (2)

On airplanes, on the Thalys between Paris and Amsterdam, in the garden at Lafitte, this past month I had a lot of time to read:
War and Peace, a treasure I discovered many years ago, but which I was thrilled to read again in the acclaimed translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky; I loved it all over again, and was smitten with Natasha Rostov anew - dear, dear Natasha...
La vie rêvée des plantes, a cryptic and haunting modern Korean novel by Seung-U Lee - I just adore its cover!...
Jacques Drillon's tribute to the great harpsichord player and baroque music specialist Gustav Leonhardt, whose parents gave him a choice after dinner every evening when he was a child: to help do the dishes or practice his instrument: he soon became a virtuoso...
Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing: set in South Africa her first novel is a tale of frustration, heat and murder...
The letters of Marguerite Yourcenar, 1951-1960 - the author of the sublime Mémoires d'Hadrien, her erudition, her lawsuits, her adoration for animals...
More letters: those my dearest Colette wrote to her lover Missy; Colette's genius for writing comes through spontaneously, so fresh and whimsical...
Sam Savage's novel Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife tells the story of a wise rat who lives in the basement of a used books store, and devours his way, both figuratively and literally, through books that transform his life... Books have also transformed mine; they are my haven and a path towards more knowledge.

17 comments:

Laura in Paris said...

Oh, Aurea, I wish I wish I could read one fourth of what you read ... abracadabra .. but it does not work! What a treasure you have.

Unknown said...

A mi tambien me gustaria leer 1/4 de lo que vos lees.
Impresionante!

Mary-Laure said...

WORLD IN A PAN - you're the one who made ma love books, thanks!

Unknown said...

oh i must re-read war and peace! and will check into the other books you mentioned...thank you for expanding my world...;))

xx

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Ah, yes, that is the same translation I read, or rather re-read. Is it a re-read if you read a different translation before, or just a read????

Mary-Laure said...

IF JANE - yes, I think we had already talked about our love for Russian literature!
I read 3 different translations of Anna Karenina.

D MOLL - I had read War & Peace years ago in French - an old and dubious translation.
I was thrilled by this one.
I enjoyed reading the preface by Richard Pevear, very enlightening.

Fifi Flowers said...

Oh my... those are big books... is there room for anything else?
ENJOY!!!
Fifi

Mary-Laure said...

FIFI - I left LA with one suitcase and returned with two. And books are HEAVY!

Hadley Makes said...

Your suitcase must have been heavy! Safe travels.

Are you on Goodreads?

Secondhand Stella said...

Thanks for the book recommendations! That last one sounds really good.

Mary-Laure said...

HADLEY - I think I registered on Goodreads but never actually used it. It's so time consuming to keep up with all those different sites - I spend hours on blogs every week...
But I'll try togo back to Goodreads, as everyone seems to say it's great.

Christine Clemmensen said...

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing:)

Hey Harriet said...

I hate to imagine a world without books. Reading is one of those simple pleasures and I'd be lost without my books. A wonderful post :)

LenoreNeverM♡re said...

Oh my...
Don't judge me, but I'm reading Jackie Collins novels...haha*
Great & safe travel dear~

xo8

The Blushing Hostess said...

I am taking notes, if my children ever allow me to concentrate again Iw ill return to this list of books I have piling up here!

Mary-Laure said...

HARRIET - I agree. A life without books is the poorest I can imagine.

LENORE NEVERMORE - enjoy! it's cool to indulge and have fun once in a while.

BLUSHING... - I'm sure the kids bring you just as must joy and knowledge as books!

Joanna said...

You are the ultimate bibliophage--one who devours books!