books Archive - breath of words

Was vom Tage übrig blieb – Kazuo Ishiguro

18. Januar 2022 Keine Kommentare

Stevens ist Butler. Er fügt sich in die Diener-Rolle, für die er erzogen wurde. In dem Roman Was vom Tage übrig blieb erzählt Kazuo Ishiguro die Geschichte eines Mannes, für den Würde gleichbedeutend ist mit Funktionieren. Dessen Tugenden Loyalität, Haltung und Beherrschtheit sind. Und der mit dem Ende einer Ära kämpft, in der er mehr war als das traditionell englische Inventar eines Herrenhauses.

Im Juli 1956 tritt Stevens nach langen Dienstjahren eine Reise an. Vom Anwesen Darlington Hall in Oxfordshire fährt er nach Cornwall. Er ist auf dem Weg zu Miss Kenton, die früher, in den 20er und 30er Jahren, Haushälterin in Darlington Hall war. Auf seiner Reise erinnert Stevens sich. An eine Liebe, von der er nie wusste, dass er sie empfand und an eine Zeit vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, als wichtige Persönlichkeiten in Darlington Hall ein und aus gingen.

books

Seafire – Natalie C. Parker

8. August 2020 Keine Kommentare

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker is the first book in a trilogy telling a story about a bunch of strong young women. And the seas. And, because it is a fantasy novel, it is also about blood and weapons, pistolfights and a surpressing enemy. But first of all, it is about friendship so deep it equals sisterhood.

Caledonia Styx is captain of her own ship, the Mors Navis, and leads a crew of fifty-something girls (spoiler alert: the exact number changes more than once throughout the book) who are at least as reckless and determined as herself. But she has not come there easily. At age 14, she showed mercy to the wrong person which cost her family their lives. Now, years later, she wishes for revenge – and is willing to give a lot for it.

“Remember when they call you girl, they’re trying to tell you something. They’re trying to tell you that they’re more than you, that the body you’re in makes you less. But you know, and I know, that you’re exactly what you need to be.”
Seafire, Natalie C. Parker

books

Hold Still – Nina LaCour

3. April 2019 Keine Kommentare

Hold Still by Nina LaCour tells a story about loss, grief, the feeling of having terribly failed someone, about friendship, remembering and new beginnings, as the blurb indicates. But it also is about Photography and The Cure, which alone would have been enough for me to like it. However, if my feelings for this book stopped at just liking it, I would not be sitting on a balcony in the sun, writing this blogpost and listening to „Lovesong“ and „Just Like Heaven“ repeatedly right now. So, in the following, let me tell you which other feelings reading Hold Still evoked in me.

„Though it’s about a tragedy, hope and resilience are its heart.“
LaCour, Nina. Hold Still (S.243). Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle-Version.