Books (part 18)

72. Mikhail Bulgakov - The master and Margarita

Strange book. Nothing like I expected. This book was banned in the Soviet Union and didn't get published until decades after it was written. I actually bumped into someone who had read it as well, who had a version where the censored bits where in Italics, completely ridiculous.

I am a fan of Russian literature, I am a huge supporter of freedom of speech, I expected this to be a big political novel about Russia under Stalin. It isn't. Obviously if you read well, there are parts where you can see the state being critisised, but in the end it is just a fantasy story with a strange twist. And I am not a fan of fantasy. I like children's books, but I am not tempted my Harry Potter and however much people recommend Discworld novels (I know at least two LJ-friends who do), I started reading them twice (two different ones that is), but never managed to get beyond the second chapter.

But in the end this book fascinated me enough to finish it. The devil himself makes an appearance in Moscow and within a couple of days the city has goon bezerk. Things go from bad to worse. Interesting story, good book, do read it, though be prepared to let your imagination do some good work.


73. Saul Bellow - Mosby's memoirs and other stories

Short stories by bellow. Nice intermezzo. Good stories as well. He seems to manage to write from the perspective from a lot of different charachters and manage to make them seem real, which in my opinion is worth a compliment. Though apart from the outside circumstances, a lot of the main characters seem to have the same problems in life, the same sort of thoughts. If that was done deliberately or coincidentally I don't know, don't know the author well enough, can't remember reading anything by him yet. Might be tempted to read more though, but I am sure I am not running to bookshops and libraries to see what's in store.

74. Iain Johnstone - Cannes the novel

The cover looks trashy, the book is. I wouldn't have read this one if it wasn't for the fact that I read a good book by him before (Wimbledon 2000, written in the early '90's). This one is an easy read, not much thinking, just get to page 300-something and put it aside. The plot isn't bad I have to say, though it always takes a while before the different story lines do finally come together, in Cannes obviously at the filmfestival, and one knows why you had to read all the backgrounds on the different characters. Not a bad book.

Life update

I know I don't really post here regularly. And even then I post my newsletters and bookreports, hardly anything else. It's just the way I like to use LJ. Those of you who read my first posts last year July, (I'm nearly here for a year now), know I hadn't got a clue why or what to do here.

But I am enjoying it now. Apart from posting my things and getting the occasional response to that, I enjoy reading my friends page. It is a weird phenomena these friends. I don't know any of you, you are all posting a lot more than I do, use your LJ for different reasons than I do. But that is the charm. I like to see that some people use this as a real journal, telling it all, baring their soul, sometimes in 'friends only' posts (I don't even know how to do them), whereas others write their weird idea's here, their brain spin offs. I like to see lyrics to good songs here, I save them on one of my disks, I love to read politcally motivated rants, but am also amused by a fast food review.

There are people there I think I got to know a bit, others I don't understand at all. But one thing you've all got in common, you're my LJ-friends list. Even though I can't afford too much in internetcafe's while travelling, very often I copied the last 100 posts in my friends journals to notepad and read them later on my 80's laptop. I know I can't comment that way, but at least I stay partially updated. Soon this will all be over. I will leave Australia, and do the last country on this big spending trip: Indonesia.

Somehow I've got the idea that it's not a good country to walk around with a laptop at the moment. I might not be a journalist, I do like to publish things, and apart from that I guess that the Dutch, with their huge colonial past over there are not very popular either. This combination makes it possibly dangerous. It might sound paranoid, but I'd rather not take any risks. Apart from that it is not a practical thing to do, carry an extra stone or so with me while backpacking. So together with my car, my laptop is for sale. I will miss it. I can't write as much anymore, can't download things anymore. I will continue to come in LJ-land, but not as often as I would like. Forgive me my friends...

While I still can use my laptop, I might as well enjoy it. I have today. 9 emails written, 4 long ones read, 1 travel story done and two edited (i.e. reread and corrected them), three more book reports (does anybody actually read them?) and this post. Inbetween I managed to finish reading a book and started the next one, which I will continue now, before going to sleep. It's been a good day. I am tired now.

75. Thomas Hauser - Missing

A real story about an American who got killed in the coup in Santiago de Chile, that killed Allende in the early seventies. Apparently the book has been made into a film, though I had never heard of it. I enjoy reading stories with a good political background though. This one isn't bad, it gives a lot of background about American politics.

Every time again I am amazed to read and find out that the United States gets away with so much. In this case they did everything in their power to make sure that Allende couldn't be a succesfull president. Why? Because he wanted a Chilean type of Marxism. It wasn't enough that he denounced the communist system in Eastern Europe. It didn't matter that he was a democratically voted president. As soon as the USA consider any country to be left wing, you might as well give up hope, somehow, someday they will destroy you. In Chili it took them a while. Allende actually was a succes. In his first year the economy boomed, the poor were much better of, the rich still didn't have much to complain. So far for all those die hard capitalists who always come up with the same argument 'well, we've seen that communism doesn't work'. It can work, until a huge country actively decides to do all that's in their power to make sure it will fail.

In the end the Americans did all they could apart from killing Allende themselves and invading the country. They helped the junta lead by Pinochet to come to power and supported one of the bloodiest dictators in Latin American history (and unfortunately that says a lot). How do they get away with it? Why does the whole world listen to what they have to say? Why do over 200 countries accept the power of economic numbers and military threat? Chile, Panama, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Haiti, Cuba. They all suffered American thorn at some point after the second world war. And I have probably forgotten some countries there, or some facts might not even be known. And I haven't even started the list of countries outside the America's.

Back to the book. Factual we get a summary about the main character who happened to be in the wrong plave at the wrong time. He got killed, because he knew too much. The CIA was happy to help the Chilean uprisers with the necessary information and back up, the American government didn't do anything to help his wife and relatives who had to suffer for weeks before finding out what happened, though very likely they knew what happened, probably even ordered the Chileans. For those of you in LJ-land who want to know what American politics are really like, this book is a good one. If you can't find it, there is a movie. Anything on the Chilean revolution will probably give you the details. Once more I get confirmed in my prejudices against the strongest nation in the world.