رواية روسية في العصور الوسطي، تركز على حدثين هما محرك الرواية: اكتشاف "كولومبوس" لأمريكا وتاريخ نهاية العالم الذي آمن به الكثيرونEnglish Review Below.
رواية روسية في العصور الوسطي، تركز على حدثين هما محرك الرواية: اكتشاف "كولومبوس" لأمريكا وتاريخ نهاية العالم الذي آمن به الكثيرون في ذلك الوقت وهو العام 7000 منذ بدء الخليقة. نتابع في الفصول الأولى "كريستوفر"، وهو معالج يؤمن بأهمية الجمع بين الدعاء والإيمان والعلاج بالأعشاب وينقل خبراته كلها لأرسيني، الذي يصبح بطلنا. يمر أرسيني بحوادث مؤلمة تجعله يغير اسمه 4 مرات، وفي كل مرة تتغير شخصيته أو هويته وطريقة حياته وما يفعله في مرحلة لأخرى من حياته. يصبح معالجا وطبيبا ورحالة وناسك وقديس.
إنها رواية دينية في الأساس وتركز على الدين المسيحي، فيمثل "أرسيني" الشق الأرثوذكسي، ونتعرف على شخصية أمبروجيو الذي يمثل الشق الكاثوليكي، لذا إن لم تكونوا من هواة القراءة عن الدين بكثافة في الروايات لن تعجبكم هذه الرواية. ذكرني نوعا ما بإمبرتو إيكو الذي نجد رواية واحد له تضم رحلة كبيرة والدين والسياسة وطاقم كبير من الشخصيات التي لا تُنسى والأساطير والخرافات والفلسفة والحب وغيرها.
من المشاهد الرائعة في الكتاب مشهد لشخصين يتحدثان إلى بعضهما البعض ولكن كل منهما يتحدث بلغة مختلفة، ولكن البوح بأفكارهم وما يثقل عليهم ومخاوفهم أهم بالنسبة إليهم من أن يفهمهم الشخص الآخر ويقدم النصيحة أو يدلي برأيه. الرواية فيها تجسيد رائع لروسيا في العصور الوسطى، كيف فكر وعاش الناس في تلك الفترة، ما آمنوا به وكيف أثر الجهل عليهم. ونوعا ما نجد النهاية تعود بنا إلى البداية، و"يكفّر" أرسينين نوعا ما عن خطيئته الأكبر التي قادته في هذه الرحلة العظيمة. كنت على وشك تقييمها بـ5 نجوم ولكنها كانت بطيئة بعض الشيء في المنتصف، وكانت أيضا دموية في بعض الأجزاء، مثل مشهد ولادة دموي وبعض القتل وقطع الرؤوس.
A Russian novel in the middle ages, with two main worldly focuses that somehow control the events: Columbus discovery of America and the "supposed" end of the world date set at 7000 years after Creation, which a lot of people believed in the Middle Ages.
We follow Christopher in the first few chapters, a healer who believes in the necessity of the duality of prayers and healing with herbs, and all his knowledge he gives to his grandson Arseny, who becomes our protagonist. Arseny goes through traumatic events a person can't imagine, that leads him to changing his name a couple of times (4 times), changing his "character" or they way he lives, changing what he does and how lives from one phase to another in his life. He's a healer and a doctor and a pilgrim and a holy fool and a monk.
It's a religious novel in the first place, Arseny being an orthodox, and we get introduced midway through the novel to Ambrogio, who represents the catholic faith. You wouldn't get along with the novel if you don't like the heavy focus on religion. Also it somehow reminds me of Emberto Eco, with his novels that includes journey, religions, politics, a huge cast of unforgettable characters, legends and myths, philosophy, love, and other fascinating aspects all in one book.
There's this brilliant scene of two characters speaking to each other but not really speaking, in different languages, and it feels like they're just getting their worries off their chests and they don't need someone to understand what they say and reply to them as much as they need someone just to listen and take this burden off of them.
It's a great depiction of Russia in the middle ages, and how people lived and acted and what they believed and how they treated each other. Also I like how it somehow comes full circle in the end, as Arseny manages to somehow "atone" for his greatest sin, that set him off in this grand journey. This was so close to being a 5 star novel, but it stalled a bit in the middle, and it was gruesome at parts. ...more
مناقشة الكتاب باللغة العربية في فيديو قريبا Around the World Project: Haiti
This is a collection of stories of people with of different backgrounds and مناقشة الكتاب باللغة العربية في فيديو قريبا Around the World Project: Haiti
This is a collection of stories of people with of different backgrounds and with different experiences from Haiti, whether they've lived all their lives there, or immigrated, or have never been there and only know about it from their parents. Haiti been through occupation that left it in the poor state it is in now, and it shows from the author's writing, the hope in these stories is very fleeting.
1- Dosas: is about a failed relationships and nurse struggling with her job and how she deals with betrayal.
2- In the Old Days: is about a girl who loses a father she never knew, and we knew more about the traditions of life and death in Haiti, and the stories of those who immigrated and never went back, and those who did. We see in a lot of the stories the two faces of Haiti, the one designed for tourists with beaches and museums and the other with poor people and rape victims, and it shows in some of the upcoming stories.
3- The Port-au-Prince Special: An example of Haitian who are used and tossed aside by tourists is the girl in this story, who a man promises to marry her and leaves her with a disease she can't escape.
4- The Gift: a story about cheating, and while this is the biggest topic I don't want to read in fiction, the author excelled in writing about the feeling of loss.
5- Hot-Air Balloons: While this story doesn't mainly take place n Haiti, it's another story about the ugly side of Haiti and immigrants' experiences and everything the have to lose.
6- Sunrise, Sunset: a story about the suffering of motherhood and a painful portrayal of a mother's deteriorating mind due to dementia.
7- Seven Stories: a story of two childhood friends and how they meet again as adults and how the politics of Haiti and neighboring islands has affected their lives.
8- Without Inspection: One of the most painful stories in the collection, about the last moments of a dying illegal immigrant from Haiti and what he sees and thinks of in his last moments.
It's a solid collection with ups and downs, and with a bit of a slow start, but I enjoyed it....more
I think I would've preferred it if I started with another book for Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book was good but the atmosphere of More like 3.75 stars.
I think I would've preferred it if I started with another book for Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book was good but the atmosphere of the characters wasn't exactly my type.
We follow the rise and life of rock singers Daisy Jones and The Six in a documentary-interview style book, which was of the best things about this book. The interviews are with Daisy Jones, the members of the band The Fix, other family members and managers and people who worked with them, with some contradicting each other, and some having a different perspective of the same event. The book looks at certain remarkable stages of their lives pre-fame and important stages when they were at the top of their game.
The whole vibe reminded me of Cooper's and Gaga's film "A star is born" with the lost musicians, the drugs overdoses, struggling with rehab, and to be honest that's not totally my vibe. not to mention, I don't feel nostalgia to any 70s or 80s rock bands, so I didn't notice the similarities people were pointing out, when comparing these fictional artists to real ones.
But I admit the songs were catchy, and once I've read the lyrics at the end of the book, I wanted to hear the album for real, and had to remind myself that it doesn't exist. I loved the angsty love, loving someone you can't have, and the portrayal of different kinds of relationships, it wasn't all perfect, and I loved that. I think I'm just not into that kind of scene, but I'll definitely try something else by this author....more
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