Ataraxia

  A Thousand Years by Jane Smiley is The 1992 Winner of The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, it is also one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, ranked 974 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, and more importantly for this corner here, this has entered Realini’s Top 1,000 Favorites – more reviews on those and more on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel     10 out of 10   A Thousand Acres was so exhilarating and surprising, I have read Moo https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/moo-by-jane-smiley-included-on-1000.html by Jane Smiley and it was not exactly dazzling, and then the subject, people on a farm, was not enticing, it could have gone either way   Indeed, in my part of the world, we used to call ‘peasants’ (I still do, when drivers seem to run me over, on my bicycle) those who were ignorant, rudimentary, when in fact, these are the folks that provide the food…this no...

  Absolute Power written by William Goldman, directed by Clint Eastwood. William Goldman was one of the best writers in Hollywood, he has won two Oscars, for All The President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid – more notes on films are available at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html Absolute Power vs The Orange Caligula and MAGA 8 out of 10   Clint Eastwood https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/unforgiven-by-david-webb-peoples-my.html is one of the greatest film makers of all time, despite the fact that he is a republican, I just hope he is not MAGA (which for me means gaga, in the sense of mentally challenged), Unforgiven is one of my Top 50 Movies   Almost every day now, on the Public Station they have documentaries about thespians, directors, and Clint Eastwood was on the other night, with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, his status could be called ‘polyamorous’, notwithstanding his conservatism, he ha...

Link the previous review Also Andes survival   On Friday 3 August 1973 three men sat in conference at one of The Inner London Crown Courts     War and Peace and marriage ‘all like that’ bad business Barrister John Strickland…he does not want to work in August, so he advises this mechanic to plead guilty, so that the case does not take him into next week…barrister said sentence would be supended, but it was not…Clare was tall attractive married tweleve years, eight years younger, but because of two children, breasts were loose, 32, he had a flaccid stomach, though handsome in court, balding under the wig Tom 10 and Anna 7 children Humor finds The Death of Ivan Ilych thinks maybe soviet dissident or a vegetarian guru in Mexico, it meant something to him…short story Family Happiness, but angry with Tolstoy because it is actually pessimistic, the title ironic – later, reads and is possessed by his fellow lawyer Ivan Ilych – maybe I did not live as I ought to h...

  Despre Fericirea Uitata a Vietii aka About The Forgotten Happiness of Life by Andrei Plesu – one of the greatest thinkers in the world, although he does not seem to exist on The Greatest Books of All Time, when I search for him there, they list Andrei Tarkovsky, granted, a formidable director, but they must improve that algorithm – you may want to visit my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   10 out of 10   Andrei Plesu https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2023/11/toleranta-si-intolerabilulcriza-unui.html should have been the president of the USA, albeit as I write this, I smile and say to myself that anybody else should be that leader, expect the one they have – perhaps we must exclude those who are really crazier, few would be eliminated, but still…   I was quite upset a few days ago, when I saw that a compatriot is quite critical of Andrei Plesu, who is much like Socrates, a symbol of beatitude, an inspirat...

  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...