A Slow Boat to China by Haruki Murakami

Author: Haruki Murakami
Original title: Chūgoku-yuki no surō bōto
Pages: 192
Edition Language: Russian
Series: short story collection
Format:  Hardback
Genres: Magical Realism, Contemporary
Goodreads

Blurb:
A Slow Boat to China is the first book of short stories by Haruki Murakami. "In this book you will find what you can call my world" - said the author about this book himself. 

My thoughts:
     If you choose this collection of short stories to read in order to get to know Murakami, it might end up you'd really hate him. It almost happened to me. Later on, I was told that for the beginners of Haruki Murakami's world, it is better not to start reading his works by selecting the "short stories", as Murakami seems to do best with the novels.
      Reading this book was quite an adventure: I loved the first story and was really excited about the author's style, and then I totally hated the following two stories. I could not connect to the characters and was lost in a magical side of the writing. At the end, I was totally confused as if I read two completely different authors. The next four stories were a bit better, not excellent, but rather interesting and catching, so I still enjoyed the book, especially the first story "A Slow Boat to China" (1980): a Tokyo man remembers his three most significant contacts with Chinese people.
       In the story "Her dog in the soil" we encounter the young attractive lady who tells the story of her most painful and probably most psychologically damaging childhood experience. The last story "Green street in Sydney" is about the well-off man living in Sydney. He owns a private detective agency which helps him to hide from every day life and drag out an empty existence without any worries and efforts, until one day a man-sheep ask him to conduct investigation.

Rating: 

    3/5 

The Unmade Bed by Françoise Sagan

Author: Françoise Sagan
Original title: Le lit défait
Pages: 318
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: Paperback
Genres: Contemporary
Goodreads

Blurb:
      Five years earlier the beautiful actress Beatrice Valmont had broken awkward insurance broker Edouard Maligrasse's heart. Now he is an acclaimed young playwright whose star is in the ascendant and suddenly she is attracted to him.

My thoughts:
      I have mixed feelings for this book. I tried not to dislike it, but I did. I have the appeal for the author' style: the description of the feelings she has done, how the characters were evolving in their emotions. They were very exceptional characters with special personalities and their peculiar relationship between each other, which was sad and unfair. But I did not like the the personalities of the main characters. Their motivations, passions and desires are so alien to me, that I could not feel anything for them: no sympathy, no irritation, no connection.
       If you like stories about the dissolute way of life of artistic Bohemia you might be interested in the book as it is written beautifully. I am, however, was not impressed by the Beatrice 's attitude to adultery  and relationship all together. Edouard did not strike me as a strong personality: a week, whining soul whose only purpose of existence is a woman. It sounds romantic, but I was actually repelled by this idea.
      On the whole, I must admit that I liked the way the book was executed, it is very atmospheric; but did not favor the content and plot, I was really expecting that it would end with the death of one of the characters. Nope, did not happen.

Rating: 

    3/5 

WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, April 5th

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 reading Dogheaders by Alexey Mavrin

I have finished 3 books:
1. Last week I finished A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler.
2. I have finished short story collection A Slow Boat to China by Haruki Murakami.
3. I have finished a graphic novel The Graveyard Book Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman

I am planning to start with the following books:
      As part of Tome Topple Readathon, which starts on 7th of April I have quite a list of book to start with.
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
3. Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
4. Runemarks by Joanne Harris
5. Police by Jo Nesbø
6. Blankets by Craig Thompson

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.

I took only one book from the library to support Tome Topple Readathon challenge:

Blankets by Craig Thompson

March 2017 Wrap up

Read books:
read: 7/ listen: 1/ pages: 1407/ hours listened: 13h20m
1. Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop p.544 - my review
2. Fist Love by Ivan Turgenev p.54 - my review
3. Asya by Ivan Turgenev p.40 - my review
4. The Unmade Bed by Françoise Sagan p.318
5. The Graveyard Book Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman p.192
6. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler 13h20m
7. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman p.67
8. A Slow Boat to China by Haruki Murakami p.192

Movie watched: 

1. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) - my review

2. Moana (2016) - my review
3. Passengers (2016) - my review
4. Allied (2016)

Theater visited: 
1. Magical Exercise/Zázračné cvičení, Branické divadlo (01.03.2017) - my review
2. Run For Your Wife/Běž za svou ženou, Branické divadlo (09.03.2017)- my review
3. A Woman in a Poppy Dress/Žena Vlčí mák (28.03.2017)

Challenges overview:
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 21/50
Pages Read Challenge: 3437/12000
Audiobook Challenge: 6/15
Russian Literature: 1/30
World of Literature: 7/50 (FR)
Booker Prize Project: 1
Classics Club: 0/50

Tome Topple Readathon on April 7- 20th

     The whole point of this readathon is to read big books (over 500 pages). You don't even need to read a lot of them. You don't even need to finish one. The point is that we are all reading those big daunting books at the same time and supporting each other.  Tome Topple Readathon Goodread group.
 All books read need to be over 500 pages! That's the only "rule".

Challenges:
1. Read more than 1 tome
2. Read a graphic novel
3. Read a tome that's part of a series
4. Buddy read a tome
5. Read an adult novel

My ambitious TBR is: 

     The must read for readathon, which fill the points 1 and 5, are:

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy p.860
2. The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer p.520
3. Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov p.634

     For point 3 I have two books ready and maybe I will finish up reading them both:
1. Runemarks by Joanne Harris p.503 - first book from Runemarks series
2. Police by Jo Nesbø p.636 - 10th book from Harry Hole series

     For point 2 I placed an order in the library and waiting till it is fulfilled. It might come after the readathon starts, but I hope I will have time to finish it.
1. Blankets by Craig Thompson

Unfortunately, I have nothing for point 4. I have never buddy read anything and have no idea how it is done, so this going to be the only point I'll skip.

In case, just in case, I would be successful in this readathon I have two more books to read or at least to start:
1. The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek p.702
2. Blood Ties by Samantha Hayes p.543

Sunday Post #10, Is it summer?

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.

Outside the Blog

     It is so hot outside. the temperature was gradually rising to +25 over the week and now it feels like summer. The only problem that it will not last long.
     I am still trying to set up some kind of a schedule or habit to write posts regularly. I am taking notes, but I am always late with my posts. Somethings needs to be done))
    This week I finished BBC series War and Peace, which has provoked so many controversial feelings in me. I hope I will write a separate post about it, but so far I have a strong wish to re-read War and Peace just to prove me right. I do realize it is no feasible in the near future, but when i will set future goals that should be kept in mind.

Last Week on the Blog

The week: 27.03 - 02.04

• On Monday, 27th I published April 2017| most anticipated movies
• On Tuesday, 28st I reviewed the play Magical Exercise
• On Wednesday, 29th I published Top 5 Wednesday, March 29, Future Classics
• On Thursday, 30th I reviewed 2 novellas by Ivan Turgenev (Asya; First Love)
• On Friday, 31st I reviewed the movie The Passengers

This Week on the Blog

The week: 03.04 - 09.04

• On Monday, 3rd I publish my Tome Topple Readathon TBR
• On Tuesday, 4th I publish March 2017 Wrap up
• On Wednesday, 5th I publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, April 5th
• On Thursday, 30th I review The Unmade Bed by Françoise Sagan
• On Friday, 31st I review A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler 

New Comers on my Shelf

1. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
2. The Secret Locket by Suzan Stainforth
3. Unknown by Didier van Cauwelaert

Movie: The Passengers

Name: The Passengers
Year: 2016
Director: Morten Tyldum
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Language: English
Country: USA
Time: 116 min

Outline of the movie:
The spaceship, Starship Avalon, in its 120-year voyage to a distant colony planet known as the "Homestead Colony" and transporting about 5 thousand people has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result one hibernation pod opens prematurely and the one person that awakes, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is stranded on the spaceship, still 90 years from his destination.
 
My thoughts: 
     Loved. Loved. Loved! I know there is so many technical and plot misfits. I guess any person with a strong knowledge of mathematics and physics will tear this movie apart, but I just loved it due to its originality, style, good development pace and characters. This movie had everything - love, drama, philosophical/existential questions, and incredibly suspenseful moments. The acting was great (I was pretty skeptical about Jennifer Lawrence), the pacing was good, and the visuals were amazing as well. Also the trailer didn't spoil the movie at all, which was nice; it actually provided misleading information and finding out a quite unique plot twist was a small and pleasant surprise.
     I adored the moral part of the movie: the person is to decide if he dares condemn another human being to the slow and almost isolate death in order to save yourself from insanity and loneliness. I guess it is even more difficult to live with the consequences of the murder since the victim is living by your side.
      My only gripe would be about the ending, which was still acceptable. But I have so many options to finish the movie, unfortunately I cannot write them down here as it will be a huge spoiler, but oh my! how many development paths it can be!

Rating: 

    5/5