Monday, 19. June 2006, 21:20:52
books
"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt was a book that reminded me much of "Crime and Punishment" and Ripley's stories. The story in short is about a bunch of closely tight college students that form a group of classical studies (that is they study ancient Greek Philosophy and literature). All but one (the one that reminded me of "Ripley") are very wealthy. Each of them, though, presents a different form of ethical descend and nihilistic attitude. Sometimes the scent coming out of the book reminds of what is collectively characterized as the secret charm of bourgeoisie. The role of their tutor professor is catalytic in their lives which seem to roll on ordinary rich estet patterns until they have to make their, otherwise monotonic and egocentric, routines contain their own collective secret history which starts with a weird crime.
Donna Tartt, leaves a red thread as she walks her heroes into a weird garden full of delicious and poisoned fruits. Her heroes try to balance between their instincts, their utmost unspeakable desires, an unknown force coming deep under their bellies and their normal daily life. Sometimes you don't know why you follow them deeper and deeper in this garden but it seems like your eyes stay riveted on this red thread that you 're not sure what it stands for. You just want to see where it leads because you become a member of this weird company and you're not anymore so sure they are that different from you. You want to know whether it ends in a deep cave or in a peaceful lake. But most of all, deep inside, you are sorry to see the book pages running to the end.
I must say that it wasn't a book I'm certain I understood but it is certainly a book that gave me weird feelings that I'll find hard to forget. Almost addictive.
Friday, 7. April 2006, 16:12:51
books, politics
Thanks to National Geographic Society, after being lost for nearly 1,700 years, the Gospel of Judas was recently restored, authenticated, and translated.
The news are shocking. According to this Gospel, Judas betrayed Jesus according to Jesus own directives, (betrayal and subsequent crucification was part of the plan to save humanity), and Judas was indeed the best student of Jesus. The one that grasped his ideas and lessons better than the others.
First it was Da Vinci Code (that massively brought up the theory that Jesus was married to Maria Magdalene who was his 13th student and that they had kids that carried on Christ's bloodline till nowadays) and now this! I surely wouldn't like to work as a Church press representative these days.
Anyway, being not much of a spiritual person, I would like to pinpoint some interesting side effects of this last news: 
1. It may be that Church dislike towards Judas Priest metal band was after all a stylistic and highly artistic taste disagreement. ("This ain't music my brother. This is noise.")
2. There are going to be dosens of job openings for secretaries and speech writters. Thousands of preaches, million lines of Church speaches have to be upgraded to conform to the new standard.
3. The above also holds for several everyday sayings, songs, books, poems etc. Much work needs to be done or we're going to be lost in ambiguity (e.g. Imagine this: He gave you the Judas kiss? Well he really loves you!).
4. Godfathers will have an even harder time choosing a name for their godchildren. Judas is in the game now.
5. Finally, having heard that many Church people don't like the news at all I could say that schisms, heresies and denominations can't be rulled out. Well, after all why should fragmentation be a privilege for left-wings only?
Monday, 20. March 2006, 21:50:41
books, politics, unemployment
There are books that you read till the end just because you feel sorry for the pains you took till the current page. There are also books that you feel sorry to finish because they are too good.
The later category can be divided in further subcategories. One of those is the books that you wish that their writer never gave up writing (or if he/she did you feel like punching him/her). That’s where I’d classify “Three Dollars” by Mr. Elliot Perlman.
The protagonist is Eddie, a most-likeable guy that trying his best he ends up at the age of thirty-eight with a wife, a child and three dollars. There’s nothing abnormal in him, nothing that predisposes for failure except his morality and the world that decides to go globalized and nuts.
How can a writer down in Australia talk in such a comprehensive way about the way our lives have changed since 80’s? How can a guy so far away from Europe talk straight to the heart and the mind of a young Greek man like me? Damn! This was a bomb book. I kept reading in Metro, Bus, Taxis, Tram, when waiting for an interview, at the bus stop, before sleeping, just after waking up...until I finished it. Imagine that this is his first book. I really hope that he never thoughts about quitting writing. It would be a real loss.
Some excerpts:
The distance between what you say in a daydream and what you actually say to a superior at your place of work is proportional to the number of adults unsuccessfully seeking full-time employment.
The end of the Cold War was meant to usher in a new world order but since 1989 national, ethnic or religious differences have resulted in military operations in Liberia, Angola, the Sudan, the Horn of Africa, the former Yugoslavia, the Caucasas and the Transcaucasus, ex-Soviet Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Lebanon, East Timor and Burma. Is this order? Is this even new? The New World Order is one of those magnificent calming, grandiose and meaningless terms coined by some bright young thing who, upon deserting the Bush administration, was immediately in a position to cash in on the riches of the lecture circuit as the coiner of the “new world order”.
The women knew two types of men: the men they were looking for and the men who had left them. Both types were on this train. One could pick the men who had left them. They had left them because on their return home at the end of many frightened and uncertain days at work their partners were still not home from long hours bending over backwards to keep their jobs. When the women finally did get home there was nothing teenage about them but their clothes, and the men, whose mothers had never made their fathers defrost anything, needed more than ever to escape with one of the kids from the magazines. These men, both before and after they abandoned their partners, kept voting for parties strong on traditional family values. They felt in their hearts that no one understood them and that there was nothing wrong with leering over someone’s shoulder on a train to catch a glimpse of a skinny girl-child in a very short dress. After all, their ex-wives used to dress like that.
Absolutely awesome.
Notes:
A -better than mine- review.
Just saw that it was shot as a movie too. My Earth. I have to see it.
WIDGETIZE