"The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster

Going through the books I own and haven't read yet, I realized that I do have two wonderful books by Paul Auster - one of the greatest living American authors. It's a shame noone encouraged me enough before to get to his books, but once I did, I read two at once. The first one, "The New York Trilogy" was published in 1987 in the shape we know it, meaning three shorter stories. Austers debut was published under a pseudonym "Paul Benjamin" so technically these three stories, namely "City of Glass" (1985), "Ghosts" (1986) and "The Locked Room" (1986) can be considered a true debut.

"The Finkler Question" by Howard Jacobson

Yet another book that was quite recently awarded with the MAN Booker Prize that I find particularly trustworthy. I just finished Julian Barnes' "The Sense of an Ending" awarded in 2011, so there came time to go back and read the winner from 2010.
Howard Jacobson's book is very English, as English as may be that is. The action takes place in contemporary London, and among the Jewsih community, or shall I say, Jewish intelligentsia living in London. The main characters: Julian Treslove, a non-Jewish unsuccessful radio producer, Sam Finkler, a popular philosopher and Libor Sevcik, a Jewish Czech gossip columnist from the times when Hollywood really mattered (Libor is almost 90 at the time of the events taking place in the book).

"The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes

I got interested in Julian Barnes' works long after he was awarded Booker Prize for "The Sense of an Ending," but he already became one of my favorite authors. His prose I would call "quintessentially British" if there ever was anything like that. He weighs words very carefully, his metaphors urge to think of literary genius. In Barnes' books everything matters and all is of consequence.
"The Sense of an Ending" seemingly is a short novel about friendship and mysteries that are discovered years after they actually happened. The pace is rather slow, and the complexity of relationships described in much detail, which makes you believe in genius of this contemporary master of written word - Julian Barnes.
The book is about the life of Anthony Webster and described by himself. His early school years, college, first  girlfriends, sexual conquests, and his three school friends. Reflections of the past haunt Tony as he receives an intriguing inheritance and realizes that his past never had a real closure.
"The Sense of an Ending" had its premiere in August 2011, and received Man Booker Prize.
The other works of Julian Barnes (there are 11 under his own name) include "Flaubert's Parrot," "Arthur and George," "England, England." Recommended!

"The Human Stain" by Philip Roth

Philip Roth, one of the greatest writers alive, remains one of my personal favorite authors. For his outstanding  work he received many awards in his lifetime, but is still waiting in the line to get his Nobel Prize. Roth has written a lot over the years, and just recently he announced that he is retiring, what caused a considerable stir in the literary world. His best known works include "Portnoy's Complaint (1969)," "American Pastoral (1997)," "I Married a Communist" (1998), "The Human Stain" (2000), "The Plot Against America" (2004). Just recently I finished two books in a row, first "A Plot Against America" and now "The Human Stain."
"The Human Stain" is a book about a seventy-year-old classics professor Coleman Silk living in 1990s New England. There is the whole Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in the background, but most importantly there are intriguing themes of modern-day racism, love affairs, illiteracy, feminism, race and many more.

The way Roth writes about all these things makes you wonder where does he get all his brilliant ideas from. In this story there are more skeletons in the closets you might possibly imagine. One cannot call it an enjoyable read (as there are too many important themes written about to enjoy the story), but nevertheless, "The Human Stain" is gripping, witty, and tells you more about the great American society than you ever wanted to know. Recommended to all those who always wanted more from literature.

The book was adapted as quite a successful film starring Anthony Hopkins as Coleman Silk, Nicole Kidman as Faunia Farley (lover of Silk's) and Gary Sinise as Nathan Zuckerman, the narrator, Ed Harris as Lester Farley (Faunia's ex-husband) and Wentworth Miller (as young Coleman Silk), directed by Robert Benton.

A review from "The New York Times"
A review from "The Guardian"

Roddy Doyle "The Commitments"

Doyle has been one of my favorite Irish writers since I visited Dublin a couple years back. Of course, the Irish would always say that Dublin is not Ireland, but well, it's the capital, innit?
Well, so far I've read just three works of his, but nevertheless, I remain a devoted supporter. Of the the three books I have ["The Woman Who Walked Into Doors," (1996) "A Star Called Henry" (1999) and "The Commitments" (1987)] I like "A Star Called Henry" best, but "The Commitments," Doyle's first book, shows  some characteristics of his distinct style.
"The Commitments" is a story of a fictional Irish soul band, members of which, with one exception, are young, unemployed and living in the north side of Dublin. Up to here their story is kind of similar to the one from "The Full Monty," so if you enjoyed the tale of entrepreneurial unemployed Brits, that story might be just what you're looking for.
"The Commitments" end up splitting, but they achieved a minor success when they were still a band. Most importantly, it brought him much joy to perform. The short story (it's not really a novel) was also turned into a successful movie in 1991. On the cover of my book it says that both the book and the movie are "cult" nowadays, but I think it's rather an overstatement. Lots of books are called "cult" these days, which doesn't necessarily make them so. Neverthless, an entertaining read.
Here, on BBC you can listen to Roddy Doyle discuss "The Commitments" in 2004.

"The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is back. For the last several months the literary world seldom talked about anything else, maybe except for Mo Yan's Nobel Prize, but even then - Yan was in the spotlight rather briefly. The legendary author of the best selling bestseller in the history of printed books (or, in the Top 3) - the Harry Potter saga, has ended her period of silence and finally wrote something for adults. And, it is a successful transformation.
"The Casual Vacancy" is a tragicomedy, but for me it's actually more of a drama of youngsters in Britain. Many times I've visited the British Isles, no matter if it was London or Liverpool, Manchester or Dublin, Edinburgh or Cardiff, teenagers smoking and drinking on the streets wearing weird clothes or no clothes at all, was an everyday view. Meanhwile, the parents and guardians were so much into helping the others and gossiping about the new drama in David and Victoria Beckham's life. Britain, this specific country of brilliant minds and wasted youth. Posh corners and drug abuse. High street fashion, food to go, school uniforms and violence everywhere. The new book by Rowling touches upon all this. There are lots of swears and curses that couldn't have possibly be used by Ron, Hermione or Harry, but here were exactly right. Rowling has a gift for observation and good writing style. Nobody can say she is not talented. And with this piece, her way to adult literature is open and waiting for more.

"Easy Money" by Jens Lapidus

Jens Lapidus, the author of "Easy Money" ("Snabba Cash") is a Swedish criminal defense lawyer. By this sole fact he already caught my attention. Then there came the Swedish blockbuster movie "Snabba Cash" with Joel Kinnaman as JW, directed by Daniel Espinosa in 2010. By this time I knew the book may be an interesting one. And I wasn't wrong.
"Easy Money" is basically about the Stockholm underworld. Drug trade, prostitution, pimps, guns, mobsters and the "big world" of business, golden boys and girls, fancy clubs. The language of the novel is usually rather literal, a lot of cursing and swearing, but it only makes the story more realistic. I couldn't help but wonder whether Lapidus himself wasn't involved in any way with some of the plots he writes about. His JW comes from poorer parts of the Swedish society, but with his wits, entrepreneurship skills, looks and charm, he manages to trick everyone into believing he is someone better. Well written first novel. Fast, gripping, a good thriller. No wonder it has been translated into the movie language and a successful film. Just wait and see the Americans show up, make their own version. Oh wait, no - actually, Warner Bros. already holds rights to the story and is set to film soon, starring Zac Efron as JW, I presume. What a waste.

Jens Lapidus

New York's Most Important Living Writers

Cultural News and Critique FLAVORWIRE has published a list of 100 New York's Most Important Living Writers. When one realizes that New York became the centre of the world some time ago already, the conclusions are rather simple. One is for sure: the most creative and influential intellectuals are in the complex process of creation in this special city that never sleeps. Plus, if you can make it there, you can make it everywhere, as one wise man named Sinatra once sang. Here is my subjective excerpt from the list.

39. Malcolm Gladwell
Staff writer for The New Yorker, an academic, public speaker.
Works:
"The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers," "What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures."

28. Michael Cunningham 
Writer, screenwriter, professor of creative writing at Yale.
Works:
Novels: "Golden States," "A Home at the End of the World," "The Hours," "Specimen Days," "By Nightfall," Screenplays: "A Home at the End of the World," "Evening."

26. Jonathan Safran Foer
Writer, essayist
Works:
Novels: "Everything is Illuminated," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "Tree of Codes," "Escape from Children;s Hospital" (2014).

 Malcolm Gladwell

 Michael Cunningham

Jonathan Safran Foer

Disney buys Lucasfilm, Random House - Penguin

It has been quite a shock of this Halloween week.On Tuesday, October 30th, Walt Disney Company has bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock. They both announced, that Star Wars: Episode 7 is in the making, to be released in 2015. Disney is systematically growing, since 2006 it has already puchased Pixar and Marvel Entertainment in 2009. For the price, Lucas has also sold control in Industrial Light & Magic (a special effects branch of Lucasfilm) and Skywalker Sound, but also the rights to the Star Wars brand, quite a lucrative business. More here and in USA Today.

 

Jo Nesbø and a perfect thriller

Just recently I have developed a sort of interest in Scandinavian crime stories and thrillers. No biggie, the classics are still on, but at times one just craves for something less complicated, and yet entertaining and well written. Yes, I went through Stieg Larsson (though just the first two parts of "Millenium") and I read some of Mankell's work that includes Kurt Wallander. But once I had a look at Nesbø's biography, I just couldn't resist and simply had to read something of his.

The author is in fact a curious case himself. First, he graduated from Norwegian School of Economics, worked as a stockbroker for some time, then left it to become a freelance journalist, meanwhile playing in his rock band Di Derre (supposedly extremely popular in Norway). Apart from that, he was a talented football player, if it had not been for a knee injury he might have been a player of his favourite Tottenham Hotspur. His international writing career has started in 1997, when his first novel "The Bat" ("Flaggermusmannen") was published, and has been since Norway's No 1 bestseller. Also, it is the first book of the series that has Harry Hole as a main protagonist. The book, under the name "Człowiek-nietoperz" has been first published in Poland in 2005, but only after several new books and international acclaim, Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie decided to re-publish it, and it premiered on October 17, 2012.

The books I read of Nesbø's however, include two of his later works, namely "Snowman" ("Pierwszy śnieg" - "Snømannen") from 2007 and later also "The Redbreast" ("Czerwone gardło" - "Rødstrupe") from 2000. And I think the first one was even better, which is a very good omen for the future. Recommended!

 

Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Man Booker Prize

That's good news. It always is when a woman-author wins twice in her lifetime an award of this calibre. Before her, only two authors: Peter Carey and J.M. Coetzee have won twice. This time, Mantel got awarded for "Bring Up the Bodies," which, interestingly enough, is a sequel to "Wolf Hall," the book that has brought Mantel her first Booker in 2009.
Man Booker Prize 2012

Mo Yan's Nobel for Literature

Not Roth, not Dylan, not Zagajewski, not Oates or Murakami, but... Mo Yan! (or, eh... actually Guan Moye) Born in 1955 in Gaomi, Shandong (China) was until now not really widely known, and there are only two books of his translated into Polish. But what is written about the author, is that he has been referred to as "the Chinese answer to Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller" - an interesting mix. His bibliography includes:

"Red Sorghum" (1987), "Big Breasts and Wide Hips" (1996)," "Life and Death are Wearing Me Out" (2006).

The Guardian has written a lot on the subject and I really like the way they write.

Nobel Prize in Literature

Don't worry, there is nothing yet I know that you don't. I mean, the names are not yet announced, but will be, and soon - the beginning of October.
But, as I read through the names of previous Winners, some thoughts struck me immediately. For instance, the first ever Nobel Prize in Literature was given to a French in 1901, Sully Prudhomme; the Norwegians have received three prizes and the Swedish - seven (the last Swede to be awarded was last year's Tomas Transtromer). Of course, it doesn't have anything to do with nationality. The Polish have received the Prize five times altogether, if one counts the Prizes for Isaac Beshevis Singer in 1978 (he was already since 1943 a US citizen) and Czeslaw Milosz in 1980 (since 1970 he was a US citizen). For several years now the Prize has raised controversies, because the winners were never the ones that everyone betted on. Perhaps except for Mario Vargas Llosa in 2010, an extremely popular author. Judging by nationalities again it seems that the possible winners this year are American (they haven't won since 1993 - Toni Morrison) or maybe Polish? We'll see. Philip Roth? Joyce Carol Oates? Amos Oz? Margaret Atwood? Or perhaps Haruki Murakami or Adam Zagajewski?

The World According to Garp

It's been ages since I last read this book, but since the autumn is rapidly approaching, it's time to do so. John Irving marvelously describes the New England picturesque landscapes and the characters are just extraordinary. If you'd like to know more, scroll down for a review in Polish, or just have a look at some pics from the movie. John Lithgow as Roberta Muldoon is exquisite. Robin Williams as Garp - simply perfect. John Irving co-wrote the script, so it has the touch. Both - the book and the movie, recommended! 

Jane Eyre

No,  no - there is no new film adaptation of the classic "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, don't worry. I just reminded myself of how great the book is. In the last years, there actually were three (sic!) wonderful film adaptations, one from 1996 directed by Franco Zefirelli, with Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Hurt and Anna Paquin, a TV mini-series with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens (2006) and the latest, Cary Fukunaga's from 2011 - with Michael Fassbender, Mia Wasikowska, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench and Sally Hawkins. Can't decide which I like most, but since Fassi is in the last one, the choice is simple.
Here you can read my review of the book in Polish: "Dziwne losy Jane Eyre",
and see which couple you like best: