sábado, 19 de febrero de 2011

Y tú... ¿eres elegante cual erizo?

La Elegancia del Erizo de Muriel Barbery

Este hermoso libro nos relata las historias de Renée Michel, la portera de un edificio de ricos en Paris, y Paloma Josse, una niña súper inteligente de 12 años que vive junto con su familia en dicho edificio, donde Renée debe mantener un "bajo perfil" para estar al "nivel de su profesión. Dichas historias cambian radicalmente con la llegada de Kakuro Ozu, quien tiene un interés que roza el afecto por ambas mujeres... especialmente por Renée.

Las voces de Renée y Paloma narran sus propias historias, lo que les da una sensación de realidad impresionante. Personalmente, encontré la voz de Renée un tanto complicada, e incluso en algunas ocaciones rebuscada, lo que ocasionaba que mi lectura se volviera lenta. En cambio, la voz de Paloma me impactó... me recordó la forma en la que yo pensaba a los 12 años, por lo que al leer sus partes era como leerme a mi misma.

Todos los personajes resultan entrañables y mágicos, a su manera. Por ejemplo, Ozu cambia "descongela" el corazón de Renée y alegra la monótona vida de Paloma.

El libro es, en palabras de la amiga que me lo prestó, subrayable de cabo a rabo, y vaya que concuerdo con ello. Creo que no tardaré en comprarme mi propia copia, para conservar mis pasajes favoritos; y, quizás, cuando aprenda francés, esperemos que sea en un futuro no muy lejano, lo lea en su idioma original. Además, hay tantas alusiones y menciones de Ana Karenina que mis ganas de leer dicho libro han aumentado.


Deseo ver con todo mi corazón la adaptación cinematográfica, Le Hérisson... veremos si la consigo pronto.



Les comparto uno de mis pasajes favoritos:
"La señora Michel tiene la elegancia del erizo: por fuera está cubierta de púas, una verdadera fortaleza, pero intuyo que, por dentro, tiene el mismo refinamiento sencillo de los erizos, que son animalillos falsamente indolentes, tremendamente solitarios y terriblemente elegantes."
Entrada dedicada a María, cuyo blog amo, y a Elliot, mi guía a esta preciosa joya literaria.

jueves, 13 de enero de 2011

More than a Literary Society... A Family!

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret
homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”
I have always thought that a book can save you, from anything! I have read lots of amazing books in my almost 20 years of life, they have been my back-up plan, my accomplices, my entertainment...

But there are some books that are more than that... that become your friends, and give you a heart-warming sensation, and The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows is one of those.

Written as letters, The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society tells us the story of Juliet Ashton and the people of one of the Channel Islands, Guernsey, just after the WWII is over.

I must confess that I was on the verge of tears when I finished it. You get to love each one of the characters as if they were part of your family: Juliet, Dawsey, Elizabeth, Kit, Isola, Sidney, Eben, Eli... all of them are real people in my mind!

I hope everybody manage to read this book sometime in their life, because I cannot praise it enough. Now, I really want to do three things: first of all, do my own Literary Society (or join one); secondly, have a penpal (I really want to receive and send letter to someone abroad!); and, last but not least, go to Guernsey in a near future!

lunes, 3 de enero de 2011

It is just about fairy-tales!

I have decided to join another challenge this year! It is the Fairy-tale Challenge that is held by Tiff. The reason? I really love a good fairy-tale! They are one of the reasons why I am a book lover.

So, I'll be in the Happily Ever After level, which means I will "read/watch any combination of original tales, modern tales, or films, resulting in 12 total selections."

I am so excited for this challenge!

domingo, 2 de enero de 2011

2010... is over! 2011... let's do it!

2010 was a little intense for me: I finished High School, started college, started to collaborate for two magazines, read as much as I could, got to know amazing persons, discovered more of myself... Now, this year is over!
I managed to complete some of the reading challenges, but as I started to read more English books (I can read really fast, in Spanish... in English I still need practice because of some of the words I still do not understand...), my reading pace was quite slow... I managed to read 82 books out of 100... but I got to know some new (for me) authors:
  1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  2. A la Sombra del Ángel de Kathryn S. Blair
  3. Alas de Aprilynne Pike
  4. Arráncame la Vida de Ángeles Mastretta
  5. Azul de Rubén Dario
  6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  7. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
  8. Carolina en el País de las Estaciones de Luis Ramoneda
  9. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
  10. Crepúsculo de Stephenie Meyer
  11. Diez (Posibles) Razones para la Tristeza del Pensamiento de George Steiner
  12. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
  13. El Arco y la Lira de Octavio Paz
  14. El Club de los Muertos de Charlaine Harris
  15. El Círculo Mágico de Katherine Neville
  16. El Diario de Lucía de Kathryn S. Blair
  17. El Mago de OZ de Lyman Frank Baum
  18. El Sexto Sol de J. L. Murra
  19. El Vuelo del Dragón de AnneMcCaffrey
  20. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  21. Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban de J. K. Rowling
  22. Harry Potter y la Cámara de los Secretos de J. K. Rowling
  23. Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal de J. K. Rowling
  24. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  25. Inés del Alma Mía de Isabel Allende
  26. La Idea de Europa de George Steiner
  27. La Ilíada de Homero
  28. La Odisea de Homero
  29. La Orestiada de Esquilo
  30. La Pianista de Varsovia de Walter Zacharias
  31. La Segunda Vida de Bree Tanner de Stephenie Meyer
  32. La Vela de Navidad (The Christmas Candle) by Max Lucado
  33. Las Batallas en el Desierto de José Emilio Pacheco
  34. Las Brujas de Mayfair I: La Hora de las Brujas de Anne Rice
  35. Leah by J. M. Reep
  36. Los Filósofos Griegos de W. K. Guthrie
  37. Los Guardianes del Libro de Geraldine Brooks
  38. Los Trabajos y los Días de Hesiodo
  39. Los Trenes del Verano de José María Merino
  40. Love Story by Erich Segal
  41. Miracle on the 34th Street by Valentine Davies
  42. Muerto Hasta el Anochecer de Charlaine Harris
  43. Muerto para el Mundo de Charlaine Harris
  44. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
  45. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  46. Pirática de Tanith Lee
  47. Poética de Aristóteles
  48. Protréptico de Aristóteles
  49. Songs of Innocence & Songs of Experience by William Blake
  50. Sonnets by William Shakespeare
  51. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
  52. Teogonía de Hesiodo
  53. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
  54. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
  55. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
  56. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  57. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
  58. This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
  59. Titán A.E. de Steve y Dal Perry
  60. Travesuras de la Niña Mala de Mario Vargas Llosa
  61. Tres Metros sobre el CIelo de Federico Moccia
  62. Una Habitación con Vistas de E. M. Forster
  63. Vampire Academy de Richelle Mead
  64. Vivir y Morir en Dallas de Charlaine Harris
  65. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
  66. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
  67. Ética Nicomaquea de Aristóteles
Some of them were amazingly great, others were not... but I enjoyed reading them all! Also, I got to know lots of great bloggers, went through the Read-A-Thon for first time, watched some awesome films...
Yes, 2010 was awesomely great, and I hope 2011 being great too!
Now, I have some new resolutions for this New Year:
  • Learn a new language (Italian or German... I can understand a little of Ancient & Modern Greek and Latin, French, Italian and Portuguese... but I really want to learn how to speak, read and write German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian... so, I'll start studying).
  • Read 100 books (yeah, I'll be into the 100+ Reading Challenge again).
  • Work-out twice a week (I walk a lot... but I think I need to do more!).
  • Go back to dance classes (I have studied classic ballet and modern dance... I want to go back to either of them).
  • Drink less soda.
  • Post more book reviews.
  • Enter more read-alongs.
  • Enter the Read-A-Thon.
  • Go to the movie theater more often, at least twice a month.

So, let's get started!