Woman with paper flowers
Donato Currisi is known to readers as one of the most brilliant modern detective authors. To get to know the Italian writer from a new perspective, pay attention to his little novel “The Woman with Paper Flowers”. This is not a detective story, but the plot in it is so exciting that it is not inferior to other works by Carrizi.
The action of the novel takes place during the First World War. A captive soldier waits in a cold alpine cave for dawn when he is to be shot. He is visited by a military doctor, hoping to convince the prisoner to talk and thus save his life. The doctor has not yet guessed what an amazing story the prisoner will tell him. The story in which the lives of these two randomly met people will be connected in the most extraordinary way…
Patrick Melrose. Book 1
In Britain, novels about Patrick Melrose have an iconic status, and their author Edward St. Aubyn is considered a modern classic. His works have a rich language, and his light and relaxed manner of narration is combined with deep psychology and subtle British humor. He is often put on a par with the greatest British writers: as Zeddy Smith accurately noted, Edward St. Aubyn’s books contain “Wilde’s wit, Woodhouse’s lightness, and Vaughn’s sarcasm.
When Edward was 8 years old, his parents divorced, but the psychological trauma he suffered as a child affected his entire life. In his youth, he suffered from a severe form of drug addiction. After treatment, St. Aubyn gave himself an ultimatum: either he will write a book about his difficult life, or he will kill himself. So he invented Patrick Melrose – his literary alter ego.
In the first book about Patrick Melrose three novels – “No big deal”, “Bad news” and “timid hope”. If you wish, all three parts can be read over the weekend. Or stop only on the very first novel, “It’s okay”, which is a little over 140 pages. In this book, we will learn about Patrick’s childhood, his relationship with a tyrant father and an alcoholic mother, his experiences of violence and its consequences.
Year in Provence
One day, the English couple decided to take a risky action: having dropped all reasonable arguments, they bought an old farmhouse in the south of France. Since then, they started a completely new life, full of gastronomic adventures, funny discoveries and unexpected but pleasant acquaintances. The first year they lived in Provence was so rich in events that Peter Mail decided to write a book about it.
“The Year in Provence” immediately became a world bestseller and brought the author not only world fame, but also respect of the French. The work is still considered the best tourist book about France, which has significantly increased the flow of tourists to the south of the country. For his outstanding services to the French Republic, Peter Mail was even awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.
It is possible not only to read for a weekend charming “Year in Provence”, but also, inspired by the book, to plan the whole trip to this beautiful region.
Time noise
The Booker Prize winner and one of the most elegant stylists of modern British literature Julian Barnes is a great admirer of Dmitry Shostakovich. It was he who dedicated his novel “The Noise of Time”, written for the 110th anniversary of the world famous composer. The book is not a fictionalized biography of Shostakovich.
Barnes has an excellent knowledge of Russian literature and culture, so, with an excellent knowledge of the context, he builds his own story based on Soviet history and events from Shostakovich’s life. If you are thinking about reading on the weekend, Barnes’ novel is a great choice, not only to get acquainted with the writer’s work, but also to take a fresh look at familiar events.
Great Gatsby
Francis Scott Fitzgerald belongs to the cult prose writers of the twentieth century. His main novel The Great Gatsby is a sparkling story telling the world about the “roaring” twenties of the last century and the great “American Dream”. The image of the mysterious protagonist Jay Gatsby – a millionaire, throwing chic parties and in love with his old acquaintance Daisy – is one of the brightest in the world literature. Despite what Fitzgerald described in the novel of his contemporaries and the familiar atmosphere of the “jazz age,” the novel “The Great Gatsby” – a book outside of time, telling about broken destinies and the pointlessness of human pursuit of an unattainable dream.
