Neu zum Lesen und neu gekauft

Gestern Abend habe ich noch den Camilleri ausgelesen, es war wieder einer von seinen Besseren. Ganz amüsant, aber schwierig zu lesen, weil die Kapitel ziemlich durcheinander waren. Trotzdem eine nette, kurzweilige Unterhaltung.

Heute Morgen habe ich mich ziemlich schnell für diesen Roman entschieden:

MARISOL
The Lady, the Chef and the Courtesan

From Publishers Weekly: When Chicago journalist Pilar Castillo returns to her native Venezuela for her beloved grandmother Gabriela's funeral, she and her mother are shocked to see a man they do not know at the service. Who is he, and why does no one in the close-knit family recognize him? The answers lie in a packet of Gabriela's diaries, her legacy to Pilar. Divided into sections corresponding to the South American proverb that a woman must be a lady in the living room, a chef in the kitchen and a courtesan in the bedroom, Gabriela's writings encourage her granddaughter to follow her heart and be true to her passions, and tell the story of Gabriela's own failure to do so by ceding to her wealthy father's wishes, forsaking her true love and marrying the man society dictates she must. Pilar herself is wavering between two suitors-the dashing Rafael, her family's choice, and Patrick, her irreverent photographer boyfriend in the States. Pilar's and Gabriela's stories are markedly different in tone and quality. While Gabriela's story is musical and sensually written, painting an enticing picture of Venezuelan society in the '40s and '50s, Pilar's is heavy-handed and clumsy, patiently explaining her culture as if to somewhat dim-witted readers-the priest comes to dinner "in keeping with a common practice in some South American homes"; Pilar has onyx eyes, "a common trait in Venezuelan women"; the differences between America and Venezuela lie "beneath the surface" and one cannot "grasp [them] merely by watching television." The past/present framing of the story is ungainly but, like the mangoes that provide the impetus for Gabriela's supremely erotic final chapter, the sweetness is within.

Thalia hat aus der letzten Bestellung noch ein Buch nachgeliefert, auf das ich schon sehr neugierig bin und von dem ich mir den zweiten Teil auch einmal bestellen möchte. Der Autor ist mir jetzt schon öfters begegnet und er ist mehr oder weniger der Begründer der modernen Reiseschriftstellerei.

 

Das ist die Nachlieferung:

 

Patrick Leigh FERMOR
A Time of Gifts

 

Description: At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off from the heart of London on an epic journey--to walk to Constantinople." A Time of Gifts" is the rich account of his adventures as far as Hungary, after which "Between the Woods and the Water" continues the story to the Iron Gates that divide the Carpathian and Balkan mountains. Acclaimed for its sweep and intelligence, Leigh Fermor's book explores a remarkable moment in time. Hitler has just come to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soon to be forever changed--through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to Teutonic and Slav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy Roman Empire; up the Rhine, and down to the Danube.

At once a memoir of coming-of-age, an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, "A Time of Gifts" is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signs of the holocaust to come.