I fantasmi by John Banville

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


QUOTES:



"Non sono mai stato il tipo che venera la natura, eppure riconosco un certo valore terapeutico alla contemplazione dei fenomeni naturali; credo che abbia a che fare con l'indifferenza del mondo, voglio dire con il modo in cui il mondo non si interessa a noi, alla nostra felicita' o a come soffriamo, con il modo in cui si limita ad aspettare guardando in alto, borbottando tra se' in una lingua che noi non capiamo mai." (page 71)



"Quello che la interessava era la stessa cosa, che interessava me, ovvero ... ovvero che cosa? Come il presente nutra il passato, o versioni del passato. Come parti del tempo perduto riaffiorino repentinamente nel mare appannato della memoria, luminose e chiare e incredibilmente dettagliate, piccole isole compiute dove sembra sarebbe possibile vivere, seppure solo per un attimo." (page 151)



"... la teoria dei molti mondi e' la mia preferita. L'universo, dice, in ogni punto e in ogni istante si divide in miriadi di versioni di se stesso. ... Ciascuna direzione possibile, dice la teoria dei molti mondi, produrra' il suo universo, con all'interno le sue stelle, il suo sistema solare, il suo Plutone, il suo te e me ... In questa versione multiforme della realta' il caso e' una legge ferrea." (pages 176-7)



"Ecco dove vorrei vivere, su qualche dimenticata striscia di spiaggia sabbiosa, con la schiena alla terra, la faccia rivolta all'oceano sconfinato. Quella sarebbe liberta', guardare in solitudine i giorni passare, segnare le stagioni, osservare le maree di primavera e le aurore autunnali, superare il sole estivo e le bufere dell'inverno. Pura esistenza, pura esistenza e nient'altro." (page 206)



"Con quanta timidezza si dispongono porzioni casuali del mondo - un pezzo di cortile spiato dal vano di una porta di sera, nuvole che si accalcano in un angolo di finestra - come a dire: Guardaci! Noi significhiamo qualcosa!" (page 220)



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Flight Training, Kibi and the Search for Happiness by J.Z. Colby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Nec tu caelestem neque terrenum, neque mortalem fecimus,

ut tui ipsius quasi arbitrarius honorariusque plastes et fictor,

in quam malueris tute formam effingas”

Pico della Mirandola (Oratio de hominis dignitate)



“We have made you (Adam) a creature neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal or immortal,

in order that you may, as the free and proud shaper of your own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer”

(Oration on the Dignity of Man)



The quote that better describe Nebador book four (Flight Training) is:

“If Kibi - or any of you - … can’t learn to use your feelings as guides instead of masters, then you must like slavery more than you realize.” (page 27)



Five boys and girls, after being chosen as Ilika’s crew, have to grow up facing happiness (such as love stories, learn a lot of interesting stuff), and difficulties (growing up is always a sloping path).



“So … by passing those tests back at Doko’s Inn, I was applying for the hardest job in the whole … universe?” (page 69)

So Kibi understands which is the hardest job: not only the test per se, but becoming adult.



For the same reason Ilika suggests that “Going into space is pretty complicated, … Yes, it’s one of the biggest tests a civilization goes through before … growing up. For you five, it will mark the end of your lives as simple people from a little kingdom, and the beginning of your adventures in the vast universe.” (page 255)



We have made you a creature neither of sky nor of earth in order that you may, learning from your feelings and proud shaper of your being (sculptor - plaster, potter - fictor, painter - pictor), fashion yourself in the form you may prefer.





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Joyner's Dream by Sylvia Tyson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Joyner’s Dream by Sylvia Tyson

published by HarperCollins Canada, 2010



Joyner’s Dream is a multi-generational story of a family bound by love of music, especially for a fiddle called Old Nick.

At the other side of the moon, the family struggle against a curse, or ‘Joyner’s malady’: a natural aptitude for thieving, and fate that deserves to the family a narrow path towards troubles.

The story begins in England in 1780; continues in Halifax, Nova Scotia, beginning of twentieth’s century; and eventually in Toronto, nowadays.



Each book’s chapter tells about a member of the family, who best shows the ‘marks’ of the family.



“As for myself, having been a diligent and enthusiastic collector of books since first I learned to read, it seems to me that there exists an overabundance of tales chronicling the lives of the high and mightily in which ordinary folk like us serve only as colourful backdrop, comic bumpkins or faithful retainers.”

Another theme of Joyner’s Dream is the strong desire in the family’s members to create a history of the family, beyond the chains that tie them to the ‘ordinary folk’.

In other words a desire for a continuum that could be destroyed by the fate intended for this family. Although it is clear from the start that it is in vain.



In my opinion Joyner’s Dream needs a good work of screaming, many parts are described just as a list of events while other parts are very gripping for the readers.

Beth Joyner and George Fitzhelm’s stories are the best of the book: both are living human beings (beyond the paper); because they accept, they fight, with and against the family’s dark side. The History, in these two chapters, is not just glued to the characters as in other chapters, but comes together with Beth and George’s stories.



Who is interested, can listen to Joyner’s Dream’s songs on Amazon.com.



I received this free e-book from NetGalley.



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