Sunday, September 30, 2018

Book description

Four stories, 176 pages

The Wicklow Way
After having walked The Camino de Santiago in Spain, Jason is bitten by the hiking bug. He next walks The Wicklow Way in Ireland. This is a graphic memoir of those days. He sees  more sheep than other walkers, and, even lost in the green Irish hills, pop culture images keep invading his head.

L.Cohen: A Life
Leonard Cohen - the writer, the singer, the monk, the ladies' man. This is a short biography of his life, with certain, shall we say, liberties taken. In truth, did Frederico Garcia Lorca teach Cohen the Heimlich maneuver? Did Cohen beat Fidel Castro in chess? And did he meet Brigitte Bardot in an elevator in The Chelsea Hotel?

The Diamonds
Two private detectives take turns watching a couple. Why? Who is paying them? We follow the couple in their daily life, apparently happy, but something seems to be brooding under the surface. The two detectives also have secrets they don't share with their families. Eventually, all stories meet one fatal night that will affect them forever.

O Josephine!
Napoleon is tired of war. He is feeling low and is looking for a companion. One night he sees an exotic dancer on stage and is struck by lightning. He falls in love with Josephine. Josephine Baker. We follow their story, the ups and down of their relationship, the jealousy that finally tears them apart and that sets a fatal path for their children.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Some books I've read 35

This is New York
This is San Fransisco
This is Paris, all by M. Sasek

This is The World by M. Sasek
A collection of drawings from all his This Is books. Unfortunately, the reproduction is not that good, with bland colours, and the drawings not always being 100% sharp. I've seen some of the originals online, with stronger colour  and looking much better. So that's a shame.

This is M. Sasek
Showing a lot of his drawings from the books, sometimes based on the originals, but also paintings he did and earlier books for children, plus biographical material.

Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
A bit uneven novel, about autism and schizophrenia, and linked to precognition, which can be debatable, I guess, but with an interesting choice towards the end where the story, following the subject of the book, is told out of order.

The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick
Enjoyed this book a lot. It has a mystery that's actually quite intriguing.

Will You Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell's Blue Period by Michelle Mercer
The writer goes through Mitchell's records between Blue and Hejira, analysing the songs and putting her work into a historical frame, from St. Augustine to Dylan and Cohen.