Review 632: Neither Here nor There

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Bryson goes to many different countries across Europe, mostly revisiting places he had been to before with a friend of his several decades earlier.

He tries for humor, it mostly doesn't work with me. The exaggeration for comedic effect was overdone. All that is okay. My main gripe with his writing is how the exaggeration was often done as a way to denigrate the place, or generalize the people. Of course, there is also the suffering of Bryson.

As I was nearing the end of the book I was starting to wonder if I will ever read another of his books. Maybe. The last couple places he visits had tipped in his favor. So often he was describing his everyday experiences, mostly complaining, but with the last couple of places he visited, there is a small amount of history.

These locations were part of the USSR that broke up when the soviet communism collapsed. When Bryson was in Sofia, a city in Bulgaria, the people were struggling; inflation was rampant and there was practically no food to be found, except for the few tourists in the only hotel in the city. This chapter he treated with a bit more humanity than I would have expected based the previous 90% or so of the book. But it did take him a minute to get there. It’s hard to be a comedian when faced with such dire circumstances.

I’m not unhappy I read the book. Bryson visited many countries I visited while on a brief European tour of my own a couple decades ago and this book reminded me of my own experiences, which does improve my impression.

Review 614: Speak, Memory

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Superb writing! The book is composed of essays written over many years, and previously published, yet the come together in one book quite nicely. They were all titled as published essays, but that was not retained in the book, which is a detriment.

The majority of the book covers Nabokov’s years growing up. An amazing amount of detail and description from when he was very young is contained in the first several chapters. He was born in 1899, and a brother soon followed less than a year later. Nabokov had five siblings, after the brother were two sisters and the last another brother. They were a family of the upper class, having a country estate and a house in town. They went abroad quite often.

The book is chronological, with an occasional hint at what is to come, particularly exile. Nabokov doesn’t go into a lot of detail the Russian Revolution, it was a tumultuous time, and his father was in the thick of it. But he does provide some information that I understand slightly better what was happening during the overthrow on the Tsar to the next regime.

Nabokov and his brother were taught by various tutors and learned to read English before he learned Russian. They were of the kind of Russian family that he says is now extinct.

Nabokov loved butterflies, well butterfly collecting, or Lepidoptera as its scientifically known. He started at a young age, and was determined to find a new species while he was still a young school boy. It wasn’t until much later, as an adult, he finally got a named butterfly: Plebejus (Lysandra) cormion Nabokov.

One of the later chapters Nabokov talks briefly about both of his brothers. It was quite moving, as by that point when we was writing both of them had died, and somewhat young. His sisters weren’t discussed. The last chapter ends in 1940 as Nabokov, along with his wife and young son, were granted passage to emigrate to the United States.

I really enjoyed his writing style. I may need to read one of his novels later this year.

Review 307: What You Can See from Here

What You Can See from Here by Mariana Leky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was originally published in German a few years ago and now have an English translation. The setting is in a small village, with its share of quirky characters. The main character is Luisa, young for the first part of the book and then around 15 years later, grown yet still young. book. She experiences childhood trauma with her best friend, Martin, whom she knew she’d marry, ends up in a tragic accident. Luisa’s father travels around the world more than is at home, but he bought a dog they end up naming Alaska. Her grandmother seems to be the one who is more the center of her world than her parents. Also, the optician, who is secretly (not so secretly) in love with her grandmother.

Despite the difficulties the characters face the book is more focused on love, and some of the unusual ways that it ends up being expressed. There is a light-heartedness in this book, that makes you think no matter the difficulties or what happens, it can be overcome. This was an enjoyable read, and fans of Frederick Backman will likely enjoy this book as well.

Review 244: Hotel Bosphorus

Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



"The first Kati Hirschel murder mystery". Yes, but the book seems to focus more on Kati's life than the murder mystery. We get her life as a bookseller of crime fiction in Istanbul, and being part German she is considered a foreigner, despite living her first 7 years of life there, and the last 13. A friend from school calls out of the blue saying she will be visiting while working on a film in the starring role. It is the next day after arrival the director is found dead in his room. And Kati is curious, gets caught up in trying to figure out who did it. Along the way she is nearly shagging every available guy. At one point Kati just about gives up trying to solve the case, much like the Turkish police. Some of this narrative is very odd.

The book was okay, the English translation may have lost some of the language as it felt stiff and awkward.

Not going to continue the series. Not my usual reading, usually don't read series, and the setting just wasn't strong enough to retain interest to continue.

Review 214: Oval

Oval by Elvia Wilk
My rating: 2.75 of 5 stars

Part of the book was interesting, mostly in the beginning, then it seemed to go off the rails for me. This is a fictional book taking place in the near future in Berlin. A big part of the book is the house where Anja and Louis live, a new type of eco-community that is completely sustainable. Yet there are cameras everywhere and the company involved is where Anja works, who just got fired but then hired as a consultant. Anyway, when it ended I just had to ask -- what did I just read? I know much of it is satire, but still trying to make sense of it.