The Vatard Sisters by Joris-Karl Huysmans : the prospects of two young...
The Vatard Sisters by Joris-Karl Huysmans (1879). Original French title: Les sœurs Vatard. The Vatard Sisters by J-K Hyusmans is a Naturalist novel set in Paris, among the working class. Céline and...
View ArticleEnd times. Elite, counter-elites and the path of political disintegration by...
End Times. Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration by Peter Turchin. (2023). French title : Le Chaos qui vient. Élites, contre-élites, et la voie de la désintégration...
View ArticleWith little actions you get things done. And feel better.
We’ve been on a political rollercoaster since January. I’d rather keep this blog apolitical and this billet will be an exception to the rule. Blame my Mafalda tendencies if you wish. It’s time to wake...
View ArticleThe Yacoubian Building by Alaa El Aswany
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa el Aswany. (2004) French title: L’immeuble Yacoubian. Translated by Gilles Gauthier. The Yacoubian Building by Alaa el Aswany has been on the TBR for ages and is part of...
View ArticleMen in the Making by Bruce Machart
Men in the Making by Bruce Machart (2011) French title: Des hommes en devenir. Translated by François Happe. Men in the Making is Bruce Marchart’s debut collection of short stories. I have already read...
View ArticleQuais du Polar is next month! My imagination runs wild
The 21st edition of our local crime fiction festival Quais du Polar, opens its doors in less than a month, April 4-6, 2025. The theme is about borders and frontiers, it should be interesting. Let’s...
View ArticleThird Crime Is the Charm #12 : England, Wyoming and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
It’s time for the twelfth episode of my series Third Crime It The Charm where I review several crime fiction books in row. Let’s start with Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton, a book I received in my...
View ArticleOn Freedom by Timothy Snyder –“For those who wish to be free”
On Freedom by Timothy Snyder (2024) French title: De la liberté. Translated by Aude de Saint-Loup and Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat. I worry that, in my own country, we speak of freedom without considering...
View ArticleAnd, That’s It by Maren Uthaug – meet Risten, who never forgot her Sámi roots.
And That’s It by Maren Uthaug (2013) French title: Et voilà tout. Translated by Jean-Baptiste Coursaud. I don’t think that And That’s It by Maren Uthaug is available in English. Maren Uthaug (born in...
View ArticleLibraries – a quote from Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac
Bragging still, but telling the truth still, during all this time I was getting As and Bs in high school, mainly because I used to cut classes at least once a week, to play hookey that is, just so I...
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