Ataraxia

  The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami A fabulous novel Although it did not win the Pulitzer Prize, The Moor’s Account has been a finalist and what an excellent book it is. The story is not that long, albeit it takes us over three continents, including The New World of that age. The story takes place around the time when Spain conquers the Aztecs, 1527 to be more precise and for the most part it deals with the travels and ordeal of a party of 600 conquistadores at the start that number only…x at the end. I was going to put a number on that x, but that would be divulging an aspect, which could be important. At some stages, the novel has reminded me of the great film Aguirre, for the leader of the expedition has some of the madness portrayed by Klaus Kinski, under the direction of Werner Herzog. The Castilians plan to conquer La Florida for the crown and become rich in the process from the gold they are sure to find. Alas, pretty soon it becomes clear that there is no gold and the litt...

  Myths by Mircea Eliade – one of the best experts in the world on The History of Faiths and Religions…you may want to check my blog for more reviews https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and/ or the YouTube channel   9 out of 10   Mircea Eliade https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/un-om-mare-aka-great-man-by-mircea.html was more familiar to this reader through his stories, for somehow, I had not been inclined to take on what I thought to be the massive, difficult, too technical and very likely boring History of Faiths and Religions…   Except this compatriot – who lived for most of his life abroad – is the ultimate expert on this subject, though he was contested the other day by one of the fellas I meet at the Club downtown – nicknamed Clyde, from Bonnie and Clyde, he pushed someone in the pool, with his spouse – a very religious individual I was telling him that I am now listening (on YouTube) to Mircea Elia...

  Despre Minciuna aka About Lying by Gabriel Liiceanu, one of the most important intellectuals, luminaries, I was going to say in our realm, but then I realized he has universal stature, and then if we think of the leaders of America today, well, then he is towering above those from very high…you could visit my blog, for more reviews of works of this and other authors https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   10 out of 10   Gabriel Liiceanu https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2023/11/dialoguri-de-duminica-o-introducere-in.html is the epitome of The Renaissance Man, at least what I understand of that: he is a philosopher, but also engaged in the arena, more recently talking about the failures of our president, he is also a general manager…   At least I think that is his position at our most important printing house, Humanitas, if it has not changed in the meantime – I even wanted to invite him at our house, ergo falling ...

  Godric by Frederick Buechner was first published in 1980 by Atheneum, and was a finalist for the 1981 Pulitzer Prize, that notwithstanding, when I looked for it on The Greatest Books of All Time site, the algorithm presents it, only without a rank, either it is floating somewhere above the likes of The Stranger, Ulysses, or, more likely, it is so bad for the GOAT they did not bother to assign it to, I don’t know, the 23453 rd place- you may want to visit my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   6 out of 10   Kingsley Amis https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-kings-english-guide-to-modern-usage.html is my favorite author, the absolute Magister Ludi aka Master of The Game (which comes from Glasperlenspiel by Herman Hesse, yet another Magister) and he had some poignant commentary on writing:   ‘Any decent writer sees his first concern as the rendering of what he takes to be permanent in human nature, ...

  Enemies – A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, but only 2322 nd on The Greatest Books of All Time site, my own evaluation would place it somewhere between, following the Golden Mean of Aristotle…you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the aforementioned and other web pages on my blog   https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   8 out of 10   Enemies – A Love Story has the Holocaust at its core and I was reminded of https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/mans-search-for-meaning-by-victor-frankl.html Man’s Search for Meaning, the classic by Victor Frankl, who has been through the extermination camps – ‘where there is a will, there is a way’   The Holocaust is the cause of (almost) all that happens in the narrative, except of course Herman Broder is a peculiar, outré (anti) hero, he is married to Yadwiga, the Polish woman who saved his live during World ...

  The Red Shoes written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen won two Oscars in 1949, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, and it is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you find thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel where my macaws have the leading roles   8 out of 10   Harvard Professor Tal Ben Shahar https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/happier-by-tal-ben-shahar.html had the most popular lectures in the history of that Ivy League institution, and he had some wondrous advice, one that I can remember- form watching them on YouTube, I have never been there – was:   Find your calling – there are three groups of attributes, first the things one likes, second the things one is good ...