Oro Puro - Fabio Genovesi

 Yet another typical display of contemporary Italian literature: 

- Sappy love story. Check

- Pure good-hearted main character. Check

- Loss leading to shallow pseudo-philosophical approach to life. Check

This one also has the added bonus of taking place against the backdrop of one of the most significant voyages of discovery in history (perhaps the most significant?) and - lo and behold! - attempts to give a voice to the voiceless and tells the story from the viewpoint of the most junior member of the crew. 

All in all, really rather pathetic. 

Measuring the World - Daniel Kehlmann

 

Considering what I have just written about Juli Zhe, I had to double-check the nationality of Kehlmann, and decided that I'll consider him Austrian and not German for the sake of my coherence (though I wonder how he feels, considering his upbringing between the two countries?). 

This is a book that was suggested to me by a former basketball teammate of mine, and I read it with fairly low expectations. And my fairly low expectations were ultimately met. Yes, the book is well-written and the stories of Humboldt and Gauss are interesting and fascinating. However, I already knew a bit about them, and I guess that bit was enough. 

Still, I'll probably give it to one of my relatives who often talks about a young Gauss discovering the formula to calculate the sum of consecutive positive integer numbers. 

Journey to the End of the Night – Luis-Ferdinand Céline

I read this book in Bolivia, in the internet-less and TV-less flat of my wife’s grandma, with no people around me. The perfect place to dedicate your full attention to a book. And yet, I got bored, my mind wondered, and I frequently asked myself what was the point of this novel.

Sure, the writing is innovative, but other than that? Wikipedia talks about cynic humour. I couldn’t see that. Sure, seeing Bardamu travel from place to place can be exciting, but what’s left after the novelty of the different location dies out? Very little, and even the final scene left me completely unmoved.

My literary taste is probably too underdeveloped to appreciate the uniqueness of this book. I’ll happily trade my copy of it for anything with a linear story and a protagonist who is not such a jackass. Just kidding: I would never give my copy away, I think it’s a book you need to have, even if just to dismiss it.