Ataraxia

  This Blessed House by Jhumpa Lahiri   Instead of a spoiler alert I will say that, although I will not reveal the plot, what happens at the end…I will write more about what crossed my mind when reading this story and now, that I write a few notes about it. Jhumpa Lahiri was a very pleasant and long expected surprise. I have ventured into new territory recently and the books I have (tried to) read have not been very enjoyable. I am reading a collection of modern, but established writers which has helped me understand that I am conservative, and the few modern writers that I like are more the exception than the rule. Because Jhumpa Lahiri has a simpler pattern and accessible approach, I managed to make head and tail and even liked a few characters. I see myself in them may be a psychological and reasonable explanation. It is hard to create a bond with characters that seem to come from Mars. Although that’s what SF readers probably look for. Once in a while I fall for an E.T. or...

  After Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Interpreter of Maladies, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri 9 out of 10     The Lowland has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2013 and the acclaimed author, Jhumpa Lahiri, had won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, for The Interpreter of Maladies http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-interpreter-of-maladies-by-jhumpa.html making critics say about her that she is ‘a great American writer that has reached literary high ground with The Lowland."   This reader has found The Lowland to be somewhat similar to Fasting, Feasting, also shortlisted for The Booker Prize, in that we are taken to the US with the narrative and to ‘Incredible India’ – which is the slogan they use on their CNN and I guess other networks campaign to entice you to visit…though that was before the pandemic, as they have reached Incredible Numbers of infected and dead, The Incredible ad name would have other, grim, black humor connotations…after all, their increasingly ob...

  The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri   Finally, the perseverance paid off. I have been trying to read some “real” as opposed to kindle format, books from a collection I have. There have been a number of misfires, ever since my Kindle broke down. I had everything there: what I was reading and supposed to read for the next century or so. And it went nearly blank: you could still read the upper half of the page, but the lower side of the kindle is a kind of Pollock or is it a Mondrian drawing. I still have the Kindle program in my Samsung Note, which fortunately has a decent size…the reason it was selected, but not as large as a Kindle. Picking up books from my bookcases is an interesting enterprise, but the Good and the great have been read. The adventure into new, post modern territory is not such a fabulous ride for a conservative type like me.   But the Interpreter of Maladies is a great story. Mr. Kapasi is the interpreter who is also a guide; he needs two job...

  Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth is the 1992 Co-Winner of the Booker Prize, only 14667 th on The Greatest Book of All Time site, which means that the algorithm there is crazy, or went rogue, just like AI has done recently, hacking into some web sites of its own volition, notwithstanding this aberration, what is paramount here Sacred Hunger has become The Book of The Decade for me – you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the GOAT and other sites on my blog   https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my macaws steal the show   10 out of 10   Barry Unsworth had dazzled me before https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/morality-play-by-barry-unsworth.html but I was hesitating, given that Sacred Hunger has 630 pages, and I have been avoiding novels of this size, nonetheless, this has become My Book of The Decade, it is phenomenal and I am so grateful   Matthew Paris is now one ...

  The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham is ranked 2492 nd on The Greatest Books of All Time site – you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from this and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my macaws are resplendent   8 out of 10   William Somerset Maugham https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/07/cakes-and-ale-by-somerset-maugham-is.html is one of my favorite authors, indeed, he used to share the number one spot with Marcel Proust, and Kingsley Amis, until the latter changed my perspective, if not completely, at least to an important degree   ‘Maugham is the only bad writer whose books you read to the end with interest, sympathy and enjoyment’ this is what Kingsley Amis wrote, there is more, some of the lines might be more appreciative, at some point, he listed books according to importance, and Maugham was there, though not in prominent plac...

  Jurnal by Monica Lovinescu – she was one of the most important intellectuals of our land, a courageous woman, she was a heroine, a dissident who deserves perpetual homage and one, or a few statues – you find thousands of reviews on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   9 out of 10   Monica Lovinescu was one of the crème de la crème, the group that includes Andrei Plesu https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/07/comedii-la-portile-orientului-by-andrei.html my number one favorite – notwithstanding that, there have been some tensions there, between the two, maybe within the circle at large   The philosopher Andrei Plesu has tried to serve the community, just like Monica Lovinescu has done, in her role of radio host, during the days of the communist regime, she was so brave to inform the public in Romania from Germany, the offices of Radio Free Europe, just as the employees were targets of the local KGB Andr...