Amélie Nothomb - two books

Two more nice books you should read:

Stupeur et tremblements
Ni d’Ève, ni d’Adam

by this Belgian delicate woman writer. In the first book she portraits corporate life in Japan, a sort of hell on earth, inhabited by racist idiots with neurotic sweat-horror; how can anyone bear such worklife escapes comprehension. Japanese workers, escape to Europe!

The second shows a completely different side, where her life is reflected and empowered through the tenderness of her Japanese boyfriend, and the side of Japan which we (priviledged enough to not work there) are used to enjoy comes in light again.

L'élégance du hérisson

Muriel Barbery (what a splendid blog): she isn’t a literary genius, like say, Georges Simenon. The story, the characters are not very original. Even her philosophical analysis can be discussed, see her ideas on Husserl. But for that mystery that is literature, the book is a masterpiece.


This said, dear Mrs. Barbery, why? Why did you have to put me in such a pain? Couldn’t you just have a happy ending, like everyone else? Damn it, damn it!

Ok, now I have to go downtown to scan libraries for other books of yours… .

Hunt for Red October

Filtered of its US Navy promotional sides, the character of Captain Ramiusis (Sean Connery) is immense.

I bet nobody remembered at the end of the movie that the captain killed an innocent man with his bare hands…