I am reading an interesting book from the history section of Amazon at the moment. It is called “A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives Were Transformed By the Rise of Fascism”. It describes live in one small village in the Alps in southern Germany as Hitler came to power and totalitarianism took… Continue reading An Alpine village in the Third Reich
Category: Books
Kindle Short Reads-a great opportunity for would be writers?
I only discovered yesterday, when doing a bit of research about how short an Amazon Kindle book could be, that there is a whole, growing section of Amazon dedicated to ‘short reads’. These books can range from 1 to 10 pages up to 100 plus pages. When you think about it and the narrowing and… Continue reading Kindle Short Reads-a great opportunity for would be writers?
Struggling with ‘The Magic Mountain’, looking forward to a page turning story
I am struggling towards the end of ‘The Magic Mountain’ by Thomas Mann. I am a huge fan of Mann’s writing, his use of words, his powerfully evocative descriptions, his intellect and treatment of various arguments and schools of philosophy in this book. But I am worn down now with only a few hours left.… Continue reading Struggling with ‘The Magic Mountain’, looking forward to a page turning story
Verbal chicanery
I’m reading Thomas Mann’s ‘The Magic Mountain’ at the moment, having just read his Nobel Prize winning novel ‘Buddenrooks’. Mann’s writing is sparkling, and it is my intention to read everything he wrote, so taken am I with his use of words and language. I encountered a phrase yesterday-verbal chicanery-which caused me to smile. It… Continue reading Verbal chicanery
Thomas Mann and “The Magic Mountain”
I am reading “Anna Karenina” and listening to “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann at the moment. I never read anything of Thomas Mann’s prior to recently reading “Buddenbrooks”. Now I am so taken with the quality of Mann’s writing that I intend reading everything he has written. Mann was a German writer, and some… Continue reading Thomas Mann and “The Magic Mountain”
The stunning beauty in the writing of Thomas Mann
I am taken aback at how beautiful the writing of Thomas Mann is in his Nobel Prize winning novel, ‘Buddenbrooks’. It is precise, descriptive, unique, and accurately captures the scenes and characters so well that the story is utterly credible and believable. Mann was only 25 when he wrote the book, and it is hard… Continue reading The stunning beauty in the writing of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks
I am reading my first book by a German author at the moment: ‘Buddenbrooks’ by Thomas Mann. It is superbly written with beautiful, credible descriptions of characters which allows you to see them as real people, not inhabitants of a novel. ‘Buddenbrooks’ won the Nobel Prize for literature for Mann. ‘Buddenbrooks’ is described as the… Continue reading Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks
The problem with audiobooks
I am a huge fan of audiobooks and I have one on the go all the time for a couple of years now. But recently I think I have noticed a flaw. It won’t stop me from continuing to listen to audiobooks-I most certainly will-but I will be aware of a small problem. Let me… Continue reading The problem with audiobooks
Perhaps I can write a novel
Sometimes I toy with the idea of writing a novel. I have written a number of non-fiction books but wonder if I would be able to write a fiction book. If I could write one it would open up a whole new world of writing for me. Often, I am discouraged and say ‘you could… Continue reading Perhaps I can write a novel
What I am reading at the moment
I am reading ‘Resurrection’ by Leo Tolstoy and listening to ‘The Power and the Glory’ by Graham Greene at the moment. ‘Resurrection’ is Tolstoy’s last long novel and is supposed to be a panoramic look at Russia at the end of the 19th century. The book’s main character is a well to do, wealthy Prince… Continue reading What I am reading at the moment