Friday 12 October 2018

Weekend Blog Hops - 12 October 2018

It's the weekend once more. That means it's time for my book-blogger hopping.
http://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/2017/01/book-blogger-hop-january-13th-19th.html
You are suddenly transported into a future time in which (horrors!) books are unknown. How would you explain books, and how wonderful they are, to the people of that time?
I would say they are items of great magic. Some are repositories of information: a way to pass knowledge down through the generations, or a means by which to acquire a new skill. Others are doorways into fantastical worlds, that sweep you away from your own life and into that of another, only to bring you safely home at the end.

http://www.rosecityreader.com/

http://www.fredasvoice.com/
Opening sentence:
The black two-headed bird, the triple-crowned eagle, convulsively grips in its talons a golden apple and an unsheathed sword.



 

From page 56:
He locked the house containing all his possessions: the bed, trunks, pots--and all his hopes.





My Current Read
The Salt of the Earth
Józef Wittlin

The villagers of the Carpathian mountains lead a simple life at the beginning of the twentieth century - much as they have always done. They are isolated and remote, and the advances of the outside world have not touched them. Among them - Piotr, a bandy-legged peasant, whose 'entire life involved carrying things'. A notional subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, all he wants in life is an official railway cap, a cottage with a mouse-trap and cheese, and a bride with a dowry.

But then the First World War comes to the mountains, and Piotr is drafted into the army. Unwilling, uncomprehending, the bewildered Piotr is forced to fight a war he does not understand - against his national as well as his personal interest.

In a new translation, authorised by the author's daughter,
The Salt of the Earth is a strongly pacifist novel inspired by the Odyssey, about the consequences of war on ordinary men.

19 comments:

  1. I like the sound of this one. Great and poignant excerpts. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “AN ANONYMOUS GIRL”

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    1. Thanks, Laurel. I finished last night. I was a good read.

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  2. While it is not the sort of thing I choose to read, it does sound interesting. This week I am featuring A Murder By Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe from my review stack. Happy reading!

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  3. Sounds like a difficult topic, but an important one. Wonder how the new translation differs.

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    1. Good translations are important to me. (I have a PGDip in Translation.) I don't know Polish, so I can't comment except to say that the flow of the language is nicely done, so I would think it is a good piece of translation, judging by that. You can usually tell the clunky, awkward ones.

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  4. I love the descriptive writing, it pulled me right in. Happy weekend!

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  5. Very interested excerpts. Sounds like a difference perspective than most world war stories. See what book MK French is featuring at Girl Who Reads

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  6. What an interesting exploration. Hope you enjoy your weekend!

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  7. Great answer....I love the word "doorways." Perfect and plausible.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  8. What a horrible future to imagine with no books! Your answer is the perfect explanation! Thanks for sharing! Happy reading! :)

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  9. If I was a time traveler, I would take a few books with me to the future.

    *Note: I deleted my original comment due to a grammar error.

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