blauracke – Page 26 – Cannonball Read 17

A Supernatural, Romantic Thriller-Adventure with a Side of Misogyny

The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker

April 30, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

At the end of the 19th century, Englishman Archibald Hunter moves to Scotland and comes into possession of some documents dating back to the Spanish Armada. He then goes on a treasure hunt with young Marjory Drake, an American heiress, whom he just met. One of the main problems with the book is that it really doesn’t know what it wants to be. In the beginning, Archie has a vision and meets a seer who explains to him that he has the second sight. Shortly […]

This Prison Where I Live

The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes

April 23, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

From 1787 to 1868 160,000 men, women, and children were shipped to Australia by the British government, not only in order to cut down on the “criminal class” in the motherland, but also to colonise the continent along the way. Hughes’ approach to his examination of this transportation system is, as he calls it, from below, which means from the convicts’ side. This, however, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t at least touch upon almost every related topic, be it the social and political environment or […]

Love’s Tragedies

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

April 8, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

This book tells the story of a well-off Syrian Christian family in Kerala, India, over the course of 23 years, starting in 1969. The main characters are fraternal twins whose lives are forever impacted by a tragedy that occurs when they are 7 years old. Political unrest and a rigid society that does not allow people to overstep the set boundaries form the backdrop. First of all and most importantly, Roy has a fantastic grasp of language. She uses it effortlessly in the most unusual […]

Do Not Weigh Too Nicely the Perils of War

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

April 4, 2019 by blauracke 1 Comment

This is a historical account of the first 21 years of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) between Athens and Sparta by the contemporary Thucydides, who, for a short time, served as an Athenian general in the conflict before he was exiled for failing to achieve his objectives. From the beginning of the war he was determined to write a record of it, in which he eschewed the gods and prophecies because history was, in his opinion, man-made, and so he instead aimed for an unbiased […]

Let me sit heavy in thy soul

Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías

March 24, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

A man visits a married woman in her flat for a tryst while her husband is abroad. Before anything can happen between them, she suddenly falls ill and dies in his arms. He leaves food on the table for her young son sleeping in the next room, takes the incriminating tape out of the answering machine, and, after trying to contact her husband unsuccessfully, flees the flat. At this point he could just let it be, because no one except the dead woman knows who […]

There Is No Perfection, Only Life

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

March 19, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

During the Cold War, a Prague surgeon meets a waitress and spends a night with her. A lifelong relationship begins, although the two protagonists could not be more different in their views on love. In a subplot we also follow one of the surgeon’s mistresses, who is a successful painter, and her married lover, a Swiss university professor. The historical background is shaped by the Prague Spring and the following invasion of the ČSSR by the armies of the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact […]

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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