blauracke – Page 24 – Cannonball Read 17

It Is What It Is

All That I Have by Castle Freeman Jr.

July 19, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In rural Vermont, Sheriff Wing has to deal with a break-in at a luxury home owned by Russians, a local small-time criminal who is in big trouble, and a deputy that wants to usurp his position because he feels that time has passed his boss by. It sounds like a pretty ordinary mystery novel but it’s not, because it turns out that the mystery is not much of one, and the book is not really even about that. It’s about the sheriff, through whose eyes […]

Change Waits for No Man

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

July 15, 2019 by blauracke 2 Comments

This is the story of Okonkwo, a member of the Ibo people in the lower Niger delta in pre-colonial Nigeria. He is the head of his family which consists of three wives and numerous children, a highly respected leader and warrior in his village, and a staunch supporter of the old ways and traditions. When Christian missionaries arrive, everything he knows and understands is threatened. To have the impact of European colonialism described from the perspective of the people being colonised is incredibly powerful and […]

Born Under an Evil Star

Mademoiselle de Scudéri by E.T.A. Hoffmann

July 13, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In 1680, 73-year-old Mademoiselle de Scudéri is a respected poet at the court of Louis XIV in Paris. She inadvertently becomes involved in solving a series of murders and robberies that have mostly wealthy gentlemen as their targets who are on their way to their mistresses with expensive jewellery. These crimes have plagued the city for some time and the authorities are anxious to solve them. First published in 1819, this is generally acknowledged as the first German crime fiction story, with the Mademoiselle at […]

“… it will never do for you to go and starve yourself to death.”

Hunger by Knut Hamsun

July 12, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In the late 19th century, a struggling writer wanders the streets of the city of Christiania, hungry and destitute, while clinging to dreams of greatness. I have seen many comparisons of Hunger to Crime and Punishment and I can see the similarities but where Dostoevsky’s book moved me immensely when I read it for the first time, Hunger left me as cold as a stone, and where I could feel Raskolnikov’s agony as if it were a living entity, I was mostly annoyed at Hamsun’s […]

Connection Pending

Day In Day Out by Terézia Mora

July 10, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

Abel Nema, a refugee from a not specified Balkan country and a linguistic genius, is found almost beaten to death and hanging by his feet in a park in an also not specified European city. How exactly he ended up there is explored over the course of the story. There are so many interesting ideas in this book but all have at their heart the theme of human connection and how it is achieved. Abel, for instance, learns to speak ten languages perfectly and without […]

To the Stars!

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan

July 5, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In this book, Carl Sagan gives at first an overview of the then current state of the exploration of the Solar System (as it was in the mid-1990s when the book was published), and then debates the question whether we should try to send humans to Mars or not as a first stage of further exploring space with people rather than robots. This leads to speculation not only on the future of space travel and its vital importance, but also on the future of humankind […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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