WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, March 15th

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. A similar meme, This Week in Books is hosted by Lipsyy Lost and Found.
Description: WWW Wednesday is a weekly event where you share answers Below questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading 3 books:
1. I am still on the book The Unmade Bed by Françoise Sagan. It is quite a nice read with a lot of psychological reflection.
2. I am still listening to A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler and done with half of a book. I like the story development and the style of the author, but I am quite taken back by the tragedy of the family which surfaces from this easy read.
3. I have just started novella Asya by Ivan Turgenev.

I have just finished 2 books:
1. Last week I finally finished Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop, which I was reading more than half a year! Terribly slow read for me.
2. I have just finished novella First Love by Ivan Turgenev.

I am planning to start with the following books:
1. A Sportsman's Sketches (short stories) by Ivan Turgenev
2. The Haunted Life by Jack Kerouac 

Hosted by: The Captive Reader and Silly Little Mischief
Description: Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

My recent books from the library are:
The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
The Haunted Life by Jack Kerouac

Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop

Author: Fuchsia Dunlop
Original title: Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Pages: 554
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: Kindle Edition
Genres: Cookbook, Travel Writing 
Goodreads

Blurb:
English woman moves to Chengdu, China for post-graduate study only to end up as the first Westerner to train at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. The author’s following 14 years of Chinese culinary exploration is recounted in this memoir/travelogue/cookbook. This is a very informative book about Chinese food culture and particularly Sichuanese cuisine.

My thoughts:
      For no reason this book took me ages to finish: a memoir about China written by a western woman. In the end, I was so happy finally to finish it. Dunlop really knows Chinese cuisine and culture, but in her book she does not say much about herself. When she spent all that time in China, was she sick? Did she experience homesickness? She tells us she had a tough time in the beginning of her year in Chengdu, but then stops telling about anything apart from her culinary experience. I find the first parts of the book, which are mostly a memoir of her early experiences in Chengdu in the 90s is interesting and inspiring, while the second part of the book was less gripping.
    The author's love of food really comes forward, and it goes without saying that this is not a book you should read if you are hungry. It's also not a book you should read if you have a soft sport for animals and you are quite conventional in food.
  

 A well balanced Sichuan meal ‘will awaken your tastebuds through the judicious use of chilli oil, stimulate your tongue and lips with tingly Sichuan pepper, caress your palate with a spicy sweetness, electrify you with dry fried chillies, soothe you with sweet and sour, calm your spirits with a tonic soup’.

   The only thing I can say for sure I did not like are the recipes. First of all, I do not find a mix of memoir and cookbook very enchanting idea. Here I am reading about delicious meal in a train and the next page is actually the recipe. So what I am supposed to do with it in the middle of nowhere? Next thing is cooking itself: to cook Sichuanese dish you need Sichuanese spices and ingredients. I know you can find anything in the shops now, but really anything? So I find this part of Dunlop’ writing is useless and absolutely out of place.
      Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Firstly, I liked Dunlop’s style of writing. Secondly, I think she does a great job of explaining some things about Chinese food that is not immediately obvious to many Westerners. And finally, she does do some interesting exploration of some sensitive political areas as the legacy of Mao and situation in removed regions; as well as spiritual matters:  believes, habits, superstitions. This book let me know the Chinese culture more, even though it is only about ther Sichuan region and through the taste and smell perspective

Rating: 

    2/5   

Movie: John Wick: Chapter 2| Moana

Name: John Wick: Chapter 2
Year: 2017
Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Language: English
Country: USA
Time: 122

Outline of the movie:
After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.

My thoughts:
            I do not have much to say about the movie… unfortunately. It was much weaker than the first chapter and was lacking common logic. First of all, I am so sick of actors not being able to say a single phrase in a foreign language. When the budget of the movie is $40,000,000 could you please, please find a native speaking person, who at least will tell you if what you are mumbling does not make sense at all! This looks so unprofessional. If your actors are so dumb and not able to articulate 2 words in Italian or Russian, just cut their voices and make the phrase up on the computer! In today's era of technology I am spending 2 minutes in the movie trying to put the random sounds coming from the character's mouth in a sensible sentence!
          But on the whole I cannot complain; the movie delivers everything it promises: beautiful settings, style and a lot of killing. Two scenes I really appreciate: one with the sommelier and the other with the tailor, nice dialogues in addition to the endless row of killings. On the other hand, I totally did not understand and not appreciate Laurence Fishburne's character in the movie: such a great actor in such a meaningless scene.

Rating: 

    3/5 

 Name: Moana
Year: 2016
Director:  Ron Clements, Don Hall
Cast: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Language: English
Country: USA
Time: 10 

Outline of the movie:
    Moana Waialiki is a sea voyaging enthusiast and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her island's fishermen can't catch any fish and the crops fail, she learns that the demigod Maui caused the blight by stealing the heart of the goddess, Te Fiti. The only way to heal the island is to persuade Maui to return Te Fiti's heart.

My thoughts:

      What a nice movie! The visuals in this movie are so gorgeous! But, besides the visuals there is such a heart and imagination and creativity to it. Moana is such a likable, smart, and relatable person. The voice work for Moana is so sweet and so good. The chemistry between Moana and Maui is so great and so natural, and I appreciate that there is no romance in it. The songs in this movie were too much for me, but some were charming, catchy and fun, especially "You are Welcome".
       I liked the novelty of the settings and plot. The film is based on stories from Polynesian mythology, which is quite interesting to get to know even in the format of the animated movie.

Rating: 

    5/5 

Sunday Post #7, Spring is in Full Swing

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things received, and share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead. To get in on the Sunday fun, see the rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

Last Week on the Blog

The week: 06.03 - 12.03 

• On Monday, 6th I reviewed the play The Closet/COndoMEDIE 
• On Monday I also took part in The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #15
• On Tuesday, 7th I published February 2017 Wrap up 
• On Wednesday, 8th I published Top 5 Wednesday list: Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books 
• On Thursday, 9th I published March 2017| most anticipated movies  
• On Friday, 10th I reviewed A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš

This Week on the Blog

The week: 13.03 - 19.03

• On Monday,  13th I review John Wick 2 and Moana movies
• On Tuesday, 14th I review Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop
• On Wednesday, 15th I publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot
• On Thursday, 16th I review the play Moment Of Weakness

New Comers on my Shelf

This week I have two new books on my self. Normally, I do not like the movie covers, but this one with Kate is so classy))

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

 

A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš

Author: Danilo Kiš
Original title: Grobnica za Borisa Davidoviča
Pages: 136
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Format: Paperback
Genres: Short Stories, Historical Fiction
Goodreads

Plot:
        Composed of seven dark tales, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich presents variations on the theme of political and social self-destruction throughout Eastern Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. The characters in these stories are caught in a world of political hypocrisy, which ultimately leads to death, their common fate. Although the stories Kiš tells are based on historical events, the beauty and precision of his prose elevates these ostensibly true stories into works of literary art that transcend the politics of their time.

About the author: 
        Danilo Kiš was a Serbian novelist, short story writer and poet who wrote in Serbo-Croatian. A member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,Kiš was influenced by Bruno Schulz, Vladimir Nabokov, Jorge Luis Borges, Ivo Andrić and Miroslav Krleža,among other authors. His most famous works include A Tomb for Boris Davidovich and The Encyclopedia of the Dead. 

My thoughts:
          It was quite a horrifying read for me. Little more than 100 pages of dark history and unnecessary cruelty. The seven stories do not have an apparent connection between main characters, but now and then someone from the previous story is vaguely mentioned to connect them all together is the endless victim chain of ideology.
          The narration seems to me intentionally simplified as well as the description of the characters. They are not flat, but it seems that you are reading one of those easy going articles from the newspaper. The second level of narration reveals, however, the darker side of the book, the unemotional mill that grinds its own disciples and true believers; the atmosphere of desperation and hopelessness. Each story is the background for a vaster picture of the creeping disquiet and the emerging horror.
        The culmination is probably the story called “A tomb for Boris Davidovich”. The character, Boris Davidovich Novsky, a noted revolutionary, is arrested with the intent to extract a confession from him in a show-trial. During his interrogation Novsky duels with his interrogator Fedukin over how he will be remembered in the future, fighting over the conclusion to his biography. This story is so full of absurd brutality, murdering of innocent people just to prove some point. It vividly portraits the cold cruelty to which lives are subjected and destroyed in the name of an ideology.
        The truly dark collection, which leave a hard and bitter aftertaste, but I highly recommend it anyway.

Stories list:
The knife with the rosewood handle
The sow that eats her farrow
The mechanical lions
The magic card dealing
A tomb for Boris Davidovich
Dogs and books
The short biography of A.A.Darmolatov

Rating:

    4/5 

March 2017| most anticipated movies

I am a little behind the schedule but still I need to post this list to keep an eye on the recent releases.

2 March 2017

Name: Logan
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
Time: 137m
Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Language: English, Spanish

In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

9 March 2017

Name: Kong: Skull Island
Cast:  Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson
Time: 118m
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Country: USA,Vietnam
Language: English

It's 1971, a team of explorers with a company of soldiers are following myth ,legend to the island where creatures both prehistoric and monstrous are supposed to live. Skull Island, the very island of lore and legend. The creatures they soon come across make the soldiers and explorers running for their lives. Will they survive to tell their story?

16 March 2017

Name: Beauty and the Beast
Cast: Dan Stevens, Emma Watson, Luke Evans
Time: 129m
Genres: Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA
Language: English

Disney's animated classic takes on a new form, with a widened mythology and an all-star cast. A young prince, imprisoned in the form of a beast, can be freed only by true love. What may be his only opportunity arrives when he meets Belle, the only human girl to ever visit the castle since it was enchanted.

23 March 2017

Name: Løvekvinnen
Cast:  Lara Braukmann, Sara Braukmann
Time: 126m
Genres: Drama
Country: Norway
Language: Norwegian

The title means "The Lion Woman" in English, a book by Norwegian writer Erik Fosnes Hansen. Film and book describe the early years in the life of Eva, a girl born with an illness which makes hairs grow over large parts of one's body. Eva is examined by doctors in humiliating ways, and bullied in school. In her teens, Eva travels in a theater group together with other folk who suffer from rare diseases.

30 March

Name: Ghost in the Shell
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Juliette Binoche
Time: 120m
Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Language: English

Based on the internationally acclaimed sci-fi manga series, "Ghost in the Shell" follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic's advancements in cyber technology.

T5W March 8, Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

This weekly book meme officiated in November 2013. Every week there is a new topic and your list of 5 nominates will be based off this topic. For further information check out the Goodreads Page.

  The theme this week is: Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

I must admit I am not a big fan of fantasy and science fiction. I used to be when I was a teenager and read quite a lot, but gradually I fell out of it as there were not enough books of those genres in our library and I made no effort of my own to develop my horizons. So my top 5 will be closely connected to what i have read before and most of them are Russian books. I am afraid I will have quite an unsuccessful list as most of the bloggers will not have idea about those books below.

1. Sannikov Land by Vladimir Obruchev  

       There were five of them. Courageous travelers, they set out to find a mysterious island that was seen for the first time amidst the ice of the Arctic by Yakov Sannikov. After crossing interminable ice-fields, they at last found Sannikov Land, "discovered it for science." This land, or rather the crater of a huge volcano, was the home of the flora and fauna of a remote geological period. There the travelers met men of the Stone Age and their contemporaries, mammoths, cave-bears and other animals. The expedition unriddled the island's secret, elucidated the reason for the disappearance of the Onkilon tribe, which at one time lived in North Siberia.  

2. Duology “Cold Coasts” and “Morning Nears”  by Sergei Lukyanenko

Cold Coasts
    In this world Jesus has not come to us - instead, there was the God's Stepson with his magic Word. Besides, iron in this word is more rare and precious than gold, with inevitable consequences to the technology, economy and etc. The mighty Power, heir to the Roman Empire, shares the world with China, Russian Khandom, Ottoman Sultanate and a dozen or so of small countries. This world seems more placid and in a way more comfortable than ours, and it seems very stable and unwilling to change. But one day Markus, a bastard prince of the Ruling House discovers an ancient book which could change the world, for better or worseю

Morning Nears
    Ex-gravedigger Ilmar, ex-cop Arnold, ex-nun, ex-pilotess (they fly planers there, not planes), ex-jailer, ex-bishop... twelve companions of the fugitive Prince Marcus, all in all... have to decide, whether Markus is a long waited Messiah, or an equally long-expected Tempter; they have to decide it quick, because the strange boy is being hunted by the police and the church, by foreign spies and every loyal citizen. 

3. Professor Dowell's Head by Alexander Romanovich Belyaev

     The entire scientific world mourned the loss of Professor Dowell. It was said that just before his death he was on the verge of a breakthrough in the transplantation of human organs.
     Marie Laurent felt privileged to work for the professor’s brilliant associate, Professor Kern. But her feelings turned to shock and revulsion when she entered Kern’s laboratory and discovered—sitting on a table, surrounded by tubes and tanks, its eyes blinking and lips moving—Professor Dowell’s head!

Thus begins a classic tale of horror and suspense by Alexander Beliaev, the bestselling Soviet science fiction author of all time, whose work is considered by many readers the equal of Wells’ and Verne’s.

4.  Wolfhound by Maria Semyonova

       Wolfhound is a series of a Low Fantasy novels by a Russian fantasy and Historical Fiction author Maria Semyonova.       Wolfhound  was condemned to death, but survived to wreak revenge for the murder of his clan. The last member of the clan of the Grey Hounds became a fearless warrior by the name of Wolfhound. After cheating death in the mines, Wolfhound sets out on a journey with his constant companion, the Earthbound Bat. Wolfhound has but one desire – to destroy the Maneater, a merciless warrior who slaughtered the village of the Grey Hounds. 

5. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

       Set in contemporary Moscow, where shape shifters, vampires, and street-sorcerers linger in the shadows, Night Watch is the first book of the hyper-imaginative fantasy pentalogy from Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko.
     This epic saga chronicles the eternal war of the “Others,” an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who must swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. The agents of the Dark – the Night Watch – oversee nocturnal activity, while the agents of the Light keep watch over the day.  When a mid-level Night Watch agent named Anton stumbles upon a cursed young woman – an uninitiated Other with magnificent potential – both sides prepare for a battle that could lay waste to the entire city, possible the world.