short review Sculpteur de masque by mohamed Harmal

A novel full of symbolism, and philosophy despite the infant atmosphere that I felt.
It makes you think about your relations with the others. about the relation between the sacred and the puritanism, how something can turn out from being a simple belief, a personal experience, to a group fanatism.
a lot of other reflexions and thoughts that flow in my mind while reading the book.the style was fluent, and affluent of vocabulary and expressions.the book opens a wide window on another philosophical source (Nietzsche) which helped me expending my angle of view.
I had different expectations for the end, but I liked it and I especially like the maturity that appeared on the reaction of spectre d’aigle

Review about Dance dance dance ( the fourth book of the rat serie #4) by Haruki Murakami

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Dance dance dance is the fourth book of the Rat serie, that I started reading this summer with my freinds, the readalong come to it’s end with this book.

reading dance dance dance was light, smooth and easy.
but as usual with me reading Murakami I find a lot of details that can be rid of them and the book still have all its beauty and meaning.
Once again, I think that the beauty of Murakami writing lay on how he could bring important subject while he speak about something dull or at least we can say things that everybody take for granted.

the atmosphere that reign over the book is full of loneliness, and loss. we can obviously feel to a point that we can touch the search of the narrator for his-self ,the meaning of his live ,his existential crises. which I honestly love, because somehow I kind have the same feelings too.

In the book the writer presents different personalities, that they affected him, and he affected them, and what they have in common is their search for meaning and for their true selves, in somehow they are all a reflection of the narrator in his own search for himself.

Death and disappearing are strongly present too.

Death itself here is an existential question, and I think bringing in the subject reflect a part of the existential bewilderment and the search for meaning of the life of the protagonist.
Despite that death is certain destiny, but till now Humanity still processing it, still hard to understand it and accept it.

this is what the narrator tries to show us by keeping repeating the phrase

“ Extremely, irrevocably dead”,

and by describing the protagonist’s reaction and how him try to figure it out and how it still choking fact to him.He shows how death affects him, how it affect AME, how it affect Gutanda, he try to describe how death affect their thoughts and behavior.

The books talked also about communication, and about acting and all of this is pouring in the same subject which is loneliness, and search for life meaning

I can consider the book as a reflection of a human state in its confusion, loss and self conflict.
it’s been nice to discover it.
as usual a lot of quotes from the book can be found on my FB page :https://www.facebook.com/powerofchanges

A Wild Sheep Chase (The third book of the Rat serie #3) by Haruki Murakami

After reading the two first book of the rat serie, I started a wild sheep chase which it is the third one , before I even start it I noticed its length compared to the two first novel. which explains that it took me longer time to read. Anyways, here I will give my impression about the book.

I consider that the events are separated into two parts: before to travel to Hokkaido and after that.

In both parts I noticed a consistent structure, and a more mature writing style.

I can say that I didn’t like much the first part it was dull and bizarre.

I mean Falling in love with the ear of someone, come on !!!

or that “whale penis” thing. Yet describing some strange or some regular details of someones life is kind of the core in all Murakami books ( at least those that I have read so far) it makes his style unique, that makes the identification with the character easier, it helps to close the feeling and the inner state of the character to the reader

The first part was kind of sad, lonely and reflect the existential issue of the protagonist , it also reflects some kind of detachment from reality, kind of escaping it, it reflects also a search for identity and meaning, despite that those feelings are echoed all along the novel but especially in the first part. it touched me and Murakami makes me feel it.

I may dislike all the irrelevant descriptions, that Murakami usually does, but maybe this is the way that helps him to put on the table some ideas, that are not relevant to the story events line in itself, but it makes the writer able to express his thoughts and share them with the reader which create a special relationship between the two of them, and special environment on the book. For example, I liked the way he brings the subject of naming things, why we name some stuff while we just give number to some others

Personally, I think other than use, we generally name things that we are emotionally attached to them.

I liked also how he talks about death and parenting.

In the second part of the book there are more events, and I became more excited to know what’s next, what happened to the rat? who was the sheepman? what happened to the sheep? why his girlfriend just disappeared?

The atmosphere gets even more darker , and full of confusion, loneliness that lead sometimes to hallucination, anger and sadness became even stronger especially by the death of the rat.

finally, I think that the book fixe my idea that reading Murakami is about reading the details that you have to find their meaning, that create the special universe of the writer, if you search a story only about events ,then you can’t read Murakami , at least this is my opinion.
I don’t want to make this review anylonger so all the quotes that I liked from the book are on my Fb page link below .

https://www.facebook.com/powerofchanges/

Passages from Women , food and god

This is a book that I found by accident , so far I like a lot of passages from it , so here I share them with youThis is a book that I found by accident , so far I like a lot of passages from it :

a_wild_sheep_chase -reflection 1

A perfect morning sound track.The world had barely changed in ten years. Only thesingers and song titles. And my age
#haruki_murakami
#a_wild_sheep_chase
#murakmi_time
#tunispanisharukist
sometimes I feel totally the opposite the whole world is running fast, faster than anything that I can catch, but I stand still.and the only thing changing is my age.
Well, I may be cruel to myself because I’ve certainly been changing and learning while I’m aging but we live in a society that measure progress only by material stuff, that put the kind of stress upon us, that make us barely able to see any other progress that we are making as human beings

The Rat Series by Haruki Murakami

لاجل عين تكرم الف عين
if I try to translate I may say, it’s literally say “for an eye a thousand other eyes are honored,” well it may not be the perfect translation ever, but I have used that expression because I can’t find an equivalent English expression that I know and that I could use.
Anyways, all that talking just to tell you how I started reading the rat series of murakami.
Haruki Murakami is a good Japanese novelist, certainly worthy to read, but I have to confess that I’m not crazy about the guy.I mean I have read two or three of his books, I liked some passages, I didn’t get some others,but, general it was good.
this is my case, but I know someone who is literally in love with every letter written by the guy, who is my friend lobna, my dear friend is widely spreading what she calls #murakamivibes

she is overwhelming social media by the reviews, the photos and quotes from murakami books and about him and his life. and honestly I like that about her.
Her enthusiasm about the writer, makes me want to share some of that with her, this is why when she started the reading group of the #Rat_serie, of Murakami , I immediately joined her, the very first moment that she proposed to me the idea.

The Rat serie is a collection of four novels their main caracter is a person recognised as the Rat, and the serie is composed by the following novels #hear_the_wind_sing #pinball #A_Wild_Sheep_Chase and finally #Dance_Dance_Dance

So far we have read two books out of four composing the serie. which are #hear_the_wind_sing #pinball

Here I will share some thoughts about what I have read.
Let’s start about :
I have read an electronic copy of the two novel you can find it on the link below : http://1.droppdf.com/files/rBbmc/wind-pinball-haruki-murakami.pdf

before the start of the two novels. it was a long introduction about writing how Haruki gets inspired to start writing, and his journey to get to his first novel, I liked the introduction, and I felt inspired, – I dream of becoming a writer one day, – and the introduction makes me say, well this is doable, if he can start this way I can start the same way too.He makes me feel like writing is about loving what you do, either you succeed at it or not, he himself doesn’t expect that his first novel would be ever published or that it would win a price.

Also he gives us an idea bout the work condition of a writer of that time ( not editing software, or helping tool, only a pen and some paper )

then, it’s started the first novel:

#hear_the_wind_sing  , the style was unfamiliar to me, it was a disconnected  piece of written sometimes I wasn’t able to follow the line and I can’t see where the story is going .But I can’t deny that there were some great passages.

Here some of them :

the second novel :
#pinball_1973

the second novel :
#pinball_1973
I like the second novel more than the first one, despite that the writing was fragmented but the pieces of the story come easily together, despite that there is always the mystery present (like almost always in Murakami works) he doesn’t explain everything he makes you find your own meaning to some details.
I can say that with that story I come to a conclusion which is that when you read murakami you don’t have to wait for the end of the line of the events where it go, indeed you have to read the story for the story itself, he shares with us pieces of his life, feelings and thoughts, he is not writing a story about only the events.and in pinball I think that he is talking about passion which became an  obsession, love, attachment, loses and misses.

I like some passages , that you can find them in my FB page https://www.facebook.com/powerofchanges

and here are some example:

 

 

Chernobyl -Miniserie-HBO

I have heard about Chernobyl nuclear disaster few years ago, but I had never imagined it, the loses it cost ,  or even why it does happen in the first place.
Chernobyl miniature by HBO makes me see it.
Despite all the critic all the Russian voices who accuse the series of reprogramming the new generation’s minds, and that the American tries to paint the image of the URSS in black- well, It may be true at some level. The series may be subjective – but either if the Russian accepts it or not  the horror of what happened couldn’t be shown another way.
The serie show huge number of shoking fact. It doesn’t show us only what happened at chernobyl and why , but it shows also the bureaucraty , the deny, the holding of a false  image of a nation  . the embrace of a confortable lie over a hard reality.

it shows also the  role of scientist when they  hold to the truth , not only to know it but also to reveal it .

The serie teaches us a few lessons about the truth, honesty, competence and responsibility.
It carries with it a few deep messages that doesn’t touch history only, but also the future of humanity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCiOYAY-HVA

Lucifer

it can’t be a simple serie, it’s a strong message about who we are, how w e define ourselves and how we let other to define us.
We are the only one responsible for our acts and choices, we create our hell or heaven.

Personnal review about Cream by Haruki Murakami

when I start reading the story and until about it middle, I felt frustrated . I had thought kind of ” So what? “. ” what will happen next“. “why is this happening?” ” what is that place?“.” why the girl had sent the invitation?“.” who is the old man?” . ” what was that message from the loudspeacker?” . “ why was the author talk about salvation ?” .” what the author want to say anyways?”
All those questions and much more, make me feel angry , I actually hate non answered questions.
But In one way or in an other I have to say that #Haruki, was able to intrigate my curiosity and to stimulate my mind. this is why I continued to read.
And I didn’t regret it, by arriving to the end I find that #Haruki wanted to teach us two ideas at least:
1- No matter who you are or what to do , you can’t contrôle the feeling of other toward you, they could feel angry, decived or whatever. you just have to think , that this is not about you it’s about them how they see the world.

And I like the way he express this in the following lines:

Maybe I had done something that had caused her to form a personal grudge against me. Or maybe, for no special reason, she found me so unpleasant she couldn’t stand it. And she’d sent me an invitation to a nonexistent recital and was now gloating—laughing her head off—seeing (or, rather, imagining) how she’d fooled me and how pathetic and ridiculous I must look.

O.K., but would a person really go to all the trouble of coming up with such a complicated plot in order to harass someone, just out of spite? Even printing up the postcard must have taken some effort. Could someone really be that mean? I couldn’t remember a thing I’d ever done to make her hate me that much. But sometimes, without even realizing it, we trample on people’s feelings, hurt their pride, make them feel bad. I speculated on the possibility of this not unthinkable hatred, the misunderstandings that might have taken place, but found nothing convincing. And as I wandered fruitlessly through this maze of emotions I felt my mind losing its way. #haruki_murakami_cream

2-those are things that doesn’t have to be explained, because they doesn’t matter at all.

we have to distinguish between what’s really matter , what’s really important to us, and between other things that could take a lot of our effort and attention while they are just ephemeral

And I like the way he express this in the following lines:

“But I get the feeling,” I said, “that principle or intention wasn’t really the issue.”

My friend looked confused. “Are you telling me that there’s no need to know what it was all about?”

I nodded.

“But if it were me,” he said, “I’d be bothered no end. I’d want to know the truth, why something like that happened. If I’d been in your shoes, that is.”

“Yeah, of course. Back then, it bothered me, too. A lot. It hurt me, too. But thinking about it later, from a distance, after time had passed, it came to feel insignificant, not worth getting upset about. I felt as though it had nothing at all to do with the cream of life.”

“The cream of life,” he repeated.

“Things like this happen sometimes,” I told him. “Inexplicable, illogical events that nevertheless are deeply disturbing. I guess we need to not think about them, just close our eyes and get through them. As if we were passing under a huge wave.”

My younger friend was quiet for a time, considering that huge wave. He was an experienced surfer, and there were lots of things, serious things, that he had to consider when it came to waves. Finally, he spoke. “But not thinking about anything might also be pretty hard.”

“You’re right. It might be hard indeed.”

There’s nothing worth getting in this world that you can get easily, the old man had said, with unshakable conviction, like Pythagoras explaining his theorem.

“About that circle with many centers but no circumference,” my friend asked. “Did you ever find an answer?”

“Good question,” I said. I slowly shook my head. Had I? […]

Sometimes I feel that I can sort of grasp what that circle is, but a deeper understanding eludes me. This circle is, most likely, not a circle with a concrete, actual form but, rather, one that exists only within our minds. When we truly love somebody, or feel deep compassion, or have an idealistic sense of how the world should be, or when we discover faith (or something close to faith)—that’s when we understand the circle as a given and accept it in our hearts. Admittedly, though, this is nothing more than my own vague attempt to reason it out.

Your brain is made to think about difficult things. To help you get to a point where you understand something that you didn’t understand at first. And that becomes the cream of your life. The rest is boring and worthless. #Haruki_murakami_cream

 

 

 

personal review “the Hate you give”

The hate you give is a book of the writer Angie Thomas , and turned into a film by George Tillman Jr.,
to be honest, I didn’t read the book I just watched the film and I like it.the film present an ensemble of the problem, which the afro-American community suffers.
All of those problems could be resumed in one word racisme.

Every time one of the community get hurt,  the rage rise, and the community members answer violently toward the law and the system.

It seems that things turn in a vicious circle, the more people feel the injustice, the more the violence rise.
Until in the end of the film, Starr (the main character) finally collected her courage, and find her voice ,to yell loud to say that they must stop violence and injustice, because the hate you give is affecting everyone around.
The film is worthy to watch, and I don’t know if watching the film can give me the excuse not to read the book