From the Internet:
This book is about a supposedly socialist government that is more totalitarian. Big Brother and the Thought Police constantly monitor all citizens of Oceania with telescreens, and if people oppose the party, they will be killed, therefore ceasing to ever exist and becoming “unpersons.” The Party controls the past, present, and future as they alter historical records and effectively brainwash the population. The plot focuses around Winston Smith and the woman he later falls in love with, Julia, as they begin to realize the truth, quietly defy the Party in any small ways they can, and eventually must struggle against the most terrible brainwashing of all.
Here are some books I read along the road. I don’t know how you have it but I hardly find time – or more truly, I don’t take the time – to read a books while I’m at home. The fact that you probably also have more time will you are traveling makes it easier to grab once in a while a book and lay some were – lets say in a hammock on the beach – and read a book.
More for me, so I can remember the books I read, I make this list but you are more then welcome to have a look and maybe get inspired to read one or an other. I’m also more then pleased to get inputs from you about books you enjoyed to read. Who knows I might find the time – taking the time – to read them. If you like to do so pleas send my a mail to [email protected]
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the world
by Haruki Murakami,, read in Africa, February 2004
From the Internet:
‘Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of The World’ is an excellent, darkly surreal story set in modern Tokyo with a alternate reality story running concurrently, both converging with frightening pace and intelligence. Very strange but fantastic.
Hitler’s secret bankers
by Adam LeBor, read in Africa, February 2004
From the Internet:
LeBor, the central European correspondent for the London Times, has added another book to the growing list about the conduct of Swiss bankers in connection with the Holocaust. Based in Budapest, LeBor usually writes about Hungarian affairs, and it shows here. His opening chapters describe German atrocities in Hungary during World War II, which is compelling reading but doesn’t have much to do with the grotesque behavior of the Swiss bankers during and after the war. LeBor’s subsequent account of the United States’s wartime involvement with the Swiss and the Germans through the Bank for International Settlements makes for fascinating reading and could point to the next Holocaust banking scandal.
Wenn es Krieg gibt, gehen wir in die Wueste
by Henno Martin, read in Africa, April 2004
From the Internet:
Im September 1935 kommen zwei junge Männer, frischgebackene Doktoren der Geologie, an der Küste Südwest-Afrikas an. Sie haben Nazideutschland verlassen, beginnen geologische Forschungen im Naukluftgebirge und erkunden Wassenvorkommen für die Farmer. Der Zweite Weltkrieg holt sie ein, aus Furcht vor der drohenden Internierung als ‘feindliche Ausländer’ fliehen Henno Martin und Hermann Korn in die Wüste, kämpfen dort mehr als zwei Jahre um das nackte physische Überleben. Hunger und Durst quälen sie, ihre wechselnden Unterkünfte, provisorisch, primitv, bilden den Ausgangspunkt für wechselndes Jagdglück auf der Suche nach Nahrung und Wasser. Sie leben fast wie Menschen der Urzeit, bewundern die karge Schönheit der Wüste, deren extreme Spannung von Tod und Leben sie zu neuen Einsichten über das Werden und Vergehen von Natur und Menschheit führt.
The Cider House Rules
by John Irving, read in Kenya/Ethiopia, Mai/June 2004
From the Internet:
Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch–saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud’s, ether addict and abortionist. It is also the story of Dr. Larch’s favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.
Die Kunst des Liebens
by Erich Fromm, read in Switzerland, September 2004
From the Internet:
Man sollte dieses Buch nicht lesen, weil es, wie einer meiner vorhergegangenen Rezensenten meint, ein psychologischer Klassiker ist. Man sollte es auch nicht lesen, wenn man einen einfach zu folgenden Ratgeber zum Thema Beziehungskrach und Co. erwartet.. Man sollte es lesen, wenn man etwas über sich erfahren, oder wenn man sich zumindest wiedererkennen will.
Wenn man die Ausführungen über die Gottesliebe, die Nächstenliebe oder die erotische Liebe wie einen Bericht über ein Tier in einem Sachbuch liest, stopft man seine Denkschubladen nur mit weiterem Allgemeinwissen voll – Erkenntnisse schließt man nicht. Nimmt man sie jedoch als Veranschaulichung Fromms These und lernt anhand der Beispiele, wird man verstehen, dass Lieben eine Kunst ist. Das man all sein Herzblut geben muss, Disziplin üben muss, wenn man wirklich lieben will; wenn man ein reifer Mensch werden möchte. Zu lieben setzt nämlich voraus, dass man über sich selbst hinaus wächst, sich selbst erkennt und daraus seine Schlüsse zieht.
Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse, read in Austria, September 2004
From the Internet:
In the shade of a banyan tree, a grizzled ferryman sits listening to the river. Some say he’s a sage. He was once a wandering shramana and, briefly, like thousands of others, he followed Gotama the Buddha, enraptured by his sermons. But this man, Siddhartha, was not a follower of any but his own soul. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. In order to find meaning in life, he discarded his promising future for the life of a wandering ascetic. Still, true happiness evaded him. Then a life of pleasure and titillation merely eroded away his spiritual gains until he was just like all the other “child people,” dragged around by his desires. Like Hermann Hesse’s other creations of struggling young men, Siddhartha has a good dose of European angst and stubborn individualism. His final epiphany challenges both the Buddhist and the Hindu ideals of enlightenment. Neither a practitioner nor a devotee, neither meditating nor reciting, Siddhartha comes to blend in with the world, resonating with the rhythms of nature, bending the reader’s ear down to hear answers from the river.
Lawinen Gefahr
by Michael Hoffmann, read in Switzerland, October 2004
From the Internet:
Beschreibung Lebenswichtiges Know-how für Wintersportler im Gebirge: Entstehung und Auslösung von Schneebrettern, Risiken richtig einschätzen, Schneedeckentests, richtige Entscheidungen treffen, Tourenplanung, Routenwahl.
This list is not complete and I forgot the names of some authors. I had it written down on a nice paper but I can’ find it anymore. This is also a reason I made this list, so I don’t have to take care of all my little papers. |