This month, which started out rather slowly from a reading point of view, I read 9 books. Four of them are short stories by Agatha Christie which I got as a present from a friend. Here are the books The Unbreakable Alibi by Agatha Christie (short story) Death by Drowning by Agatha Christie (short story) The Blue Geranium by Agatha Christie (short story) The Horses of Diomedes by Agatha Christie (short story) Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Pakten by Gunnar Svebring Orden som formade Sverige by Elisabeth Åsbrink Back Spin by Harlan Coben A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré I enjoyed the short stories. One of them The Blue Geranium was turned into a Miss Marple mystery. I have just bing watched all of the Miss Marple seasons. Is there anything better to watch than an Agatha Christie when you are a little bit down and out? Lessons in Chemistry I read with a new book club I have joined. I really liked the novel, and its satirical take on a time which was difficult for women. Not all of us did enjoy the Elizabeth Zott character, but I did. I tend to enjoy characters who do what they want, without thinking all the time what other people will think. I see it has been made into a film with Brie Larson and she would be able to do a good thing out of this character. Pakten and Orden som formade Sverige are only in Swedish. The first one a psychological thriller which I enjoyed, as it also took place in areas close to me. The Words that formed Sweden is from a favourite author Elisabeth Åsbrink. She highlights historical aspects that has made Sweden into what it is. A sort of history lesson. I was thinking that this should be an obligatory read for Swedish schools. Young people tend to know so little about our history. And certain traditional aspects we take for granted, but we don't know where they come from and what made them into our ordinary lives. Excellent read. I found Back Spin on the shelves in our garbage room. Yes, we have a book shelf there for the enjoyment of neighbours. Instead of throwing the books away you leave them on the shelf. Corban is a favourite. I am reading a lot of nonfiction for the time being and felt I needed something easy to read in between. This turns out to be one of several books about Myron Bolitar, a sports agent turning detective on the side. This story is about a kidnapping, or is it? A Most Wanted Man is a typical Carré and as such very enjoyable. Here Carré is using modern migration problems as a background to his story of intelligence and police services, throwing in a human rights lawyer, a private banker and an old money contract. Carré is making nothing wrong in this story.

As I have mentioned recently, I am trying to learn more about Stoicism. I would, ideally, also like to understand more of philosophy, but the more I read about it, the more confused I get. I am still trying. At least it is easier to approach the stoics and their ideas. I have already read Epictetus and am reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. I came into Sellars book via Kaggsy's Bookish Rambling s and ordered the book. It is a very good and easy introduction to Stoicism. It is only about 70 pages so you go through it fast. Maybe the best way is to just read a chapter a day and ponder over what you read. John Sellars is a lecturer in Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London and a member of Wolfson College, Oxford. He has also written The Art of Living. I see in the introduction of him that he is also one of the founder members of Modern Stoicism, the group behind Stoic Week. It seems to be an annual global event where they invite members of the public to 'live like a Stoic for a week' in order to see how it might improve their lives. I wonder ... ? It sounds rather fascinating. Back to the book. It is divided into seven chapters and an epilogue. The Philosopher as Doctor - Epictetus says: " The philosopher, is a doctor, and the philosopher's school is a hospital - a hospital for souls. " What Do You Control? - " The things that we can control - the things in our power - include our judgements, impulses and desires. Pretty much everything else is, Epictetus suggests, ultimately out of our control, including our own bodies, our material possessions, our reputation and our worldly success. " The Problem with Emotions - " We cannot control other people's emotions, because they fall into the category of things not up to us. ... But, Epictetus doesn't just leave it there; he shifts attention to what the man can , namely his own reaction to his brother's anger. " Dealing with Adversity - " Whether one believes in a benevolent deity, pantheistic order or atomic chaos, it remains entirely up to us whether we choose to see an event as a disaster or an opportunity ." Our Place in Nature - " One of the central themes that threads itself through the Meditations is fate. This brings us back to Epictetus's concern with control. Marcus had read the Discourses as a young man, and their influence can be seen throughout his own writings. But whereas Epictetus turned his attention inwards, to focus on what we can control, Marcus looked outwards to contemplate the vastness of what we cannot. Again and again Marcus reflects on his own life as but one tiny moment in the vastness of time, and his own body as a mere speck in the vastness of the universe. " Life and Death - "Perhaps surprisingly, he (Seneca) insisted that all of us have more than enough time, no matter how long or short out lives turn out to be; the problem is that we waste most of it." "First of all we should stop worrying about what others think. Don't try to impress others; don't pursue their favour in order to secure some advantage. To many people care about what others think of them, but pay little their own thoughts. " How We Live Together - " Epictetus's division between what we can and cannot control seems to counsel turning our backs on the outside world in order to focus attention on our judgements." "The Stoics would also agree with Aristotle when he said that human beings are by nature social and political animals. " The Stoics mean that much of the suffering you feel in life is more of the way you perceive it, or think about things (not including physical suffering). Things that often are part of our lives like anxiety, frustration, fear, disappointment, anger and general discontent. Stoicism meets these negative emotions by saying that we are looking at the world in a wrong way. The ability to avoid these emotions is within our control, we just have to face them in a different light. Zeno of Elea (490-430 B.C.) lived in Athens and founded a school that taught what was to become Stoicism. The most famous Stoics were three great Romans; Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, who lived in the first and second centuries AD. " Their works, fundamentally, are about how to live - how to understand one's place in the world, how to cope when things don't go well, how to manage one's emotions, how to behave towards others, how to live a good life worthy of a rational human being. " It seems that the Stoics have a lot to teach us even today. Or, maybe more today, when we live in a world full of stress, social media, fake news and life happening in a higher speed than ever before. I try, when I get agitated or irritated on someone to stop myself, and think of what the Stoics said. I still have to go through the routine of stopping myself, and thinking of my reaction. I hope that one day, my reaction to things upsetting me, will automatically hit my brain, without me having to think further of it. Meaning, not to get irritated or agitated at all. I continue to read about the Stoics. I have The Daily Stoic, 366 meditations , perseverance, and the art of living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. One good Stoic quote a day, and a thought to be considered, to help you start the day

The Corona pandemic has been a big part of our lives the last couple of years. It has affected our lives in more way than one. Illness and isolation were the key words. Sweden was one of the few countries that did not totally close down, and there has been a lot of discussion on the matter. All in all, when you look back, Sweden did manage better than most countries in spite of this. Anders Tegnell was the person facing the public and he became famous and looked up to, almost like a pop star. He has written a book about what happened during these turbulent years. He told his story to journalist Fanny Härgestam who wrote it down in Tankar efter en pandemi - och lärdomarna inför nästa. Translated it will be something like: Thoughts after a pandemic - and the lessons for the next. It is a very interesting tale on a situation that nobody had experience before. He is a civil servant and physician specialising in infectious disease. He was the state epidemiologist from 2013 - 2022. He starts his story with a background in his education and experience working abroad in Addis Abeba, 1968, Vientiane 1990 and Kinshasa 1995. There is also a chapter on his experience of the Swine flue. We get an insight into how the Swedish Health Agency is working. How the staff started to treat this flue similar to earlier ones. It soon became clear that this disease did not act like something they had seen before. The whole situation was new. They interacted with colleagues around the world to learn from others and give their own experience. All of them had to approach covid as a totally new experience. Very soon countries started to close their borders and go into a lockdown. The lockdown was done under the principle of carefulness. A basic principle to be treated with care, especially when you don't know the consequences. It would probably lower the number of cases of both the illness and death. However, which impact would it have on people's health and life quality. The factors had to be balanced. During the whole pandemic the Health Agency had to balance all these factors. Sweden was also under a lot of pressure since they did not go into lockdown. Sweden against the world. Tegnell says there was not a distinctive time when the decision was made. They looked at the situation as it occurred. To close down society was not an option at any time, and furthermore there was not available legislation to do so. As Tegnell says: "We were not preparing for a hundred meter run, but for a long distance race." As we are coming out of the worst of the pandemic there are a lot on research going on how the pandemic has affected public health. Mental health has deteriorated, both acutely and long term, since people felt worse, also due to worries in general. The Agency's measurements on health the last years have not shown that mental health has changed negatively. Although there are some signs of negative input, Tegnell feels that the pandemic has had more negative consequences on society at large. According to several measurements, over mortality was very low in Sweden. So why did Sweden manage this, although it did not go into lockdown? It will probably take years of studies to come to a certain conclusion. Here are some indicators though. Health care system which is well developed in Sweden with a high capacity. The same was the case in our neighbouring countries. There is research that show that there is a connection between well developed health care, high degree of economical equality and low over mortality. Although it has to be said that many other countries in Europe have a well developed health care, but in spite of this, higher over mortality. Swedes highly trust authorities and did follow the advice of the Agency. Many changed their behaviour, worked from home and kept distance when out in society. A report from Telia (a telecom company) showing the pattern of movement during the pandemic, shows that Swedes limited travelling as much as our neighbouring countries, although they were in lockdown and forced to do so. Swedes did it voluntarily. To keep society open lowered possible risks for depression and other health problems related to isolation. The social protection net could have played a role. People who lost their income, or got sick, got support from unemployment insurances or the social insurance, which probably eased stress and worries. When the vaccin came, it changed the course of the pandemic. After Many countries closed down, travelling more or less ceased in the effort to curb the pandemic. It does not have any great impacts on the transmission of disease. In a crises the countries in the world do not priorities international solidarity. You look to your own country first of all. It might not always be the best way forward. Vaccination is important and there should be a model for distribution, especially to poor countries. Communication is important. The Agency held daily press conferences during the peak of the pandemic. Everyone kept themselves up-to-date with the latest situation. _________________ This is a very interesting book. Tegnell takes us behind the scenes of the Health Agency, their colleagues, their contacts with politicians, journalist and other interested parties. It gives you a clear view on what happened, and also the insecurity the people felt when they realised this is something totally new. All their gathered experience can help, but they have to go beyond what they have seen earlier. One of the things why information and obedience worked very well in Sweden is that Swedes do have a big trust for authorities. Furthermore, the Agency was in charge, not the politicians like in many other countries. You trust the experts, but in most countries there is not such big trust for the politicians. They have another agenda. There might be other people involved in the pandemic in your country that have written books on these hard times? It is interesting to see how it works and this book had it all. Anders Tegnell is a man passionate for his work.

It was quite some time since I had a look at the books I keep on my shelves after reading them. Due to lack of space I have come to the conclusion that I can only keep books I really love. I seldom re-read books, but I like to be reminded of those I love and therefore keep them. It is nice to take them out from time to time and remember the stories. Mostly, I do keep nonfiction books, since they are always useful when you want to look up a fact of some kind. For the letter K, referring to the first letter of the author's surname, I have kept six nonfiction and three fiction. Nonfiction The Women I Think About At Night by Mia Kankimäki Påven som kom ner på jorden by Kristina Kappelin Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuscinski Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski On Writing by Stephen King Ett hemligt liv by Martin Kylhammar The Women I Think About At Night is a wonderful, low toned book by Finnish author Mia Kankimäki. Here she blends her interests in travelling and biography and follow in the footsteps of earlier female travellers and pioneers. She asks the reader: "What can a forty-something childless woman do? Bored with her life and feeling stuck, she leaves her job, sells her apartment, and decides to travel the world." She takes on her her trips and meetings with remarkable women, blending it with thoughts about life in general. It is a rather interesting tale. Påven som kom ner på jorden means "The Pope who came down to earth" is Kappelin's story of the present pope. The book came out as he was rather new in office and she recalls the story of his life and missions. Kappelin was, for many years, a freelance correspondence in Rome and is well acquainted with the Italian, and Vatican societies. She is now head of Villa San Michele on Capri, once built by Swedish doctor Axel Munthe, and still a very popular tourist spot these days. Shah of Shahs and Imperium are two of Ryszard Kapuscinski's excellent books on people and politics. Many years since I read them, but still remember them as excellent in analysing the Shah of Iran and a Soviet Union seen from another perspective. Well worth a read. On Writing I think does not need any further introduction. It is the bible on writing for anyone interesting in the task. Ett hemligt liv (A Secret Life) the story of the love affair between Swedish author Werner von Heidenstam and Danish socialite Kate Bang. A love story that had to take place privately, in spite of the very public von Heidenstam, since they were never married. Kylhammar has done extensive research and also had access to new, private papers. Excellent biography of one of the national idols of Sweden and a remarkable woman, far ahead of her time. Fiction Pirater och vulkanutbrott på Island and Mysteriet med guldgubbarna by Kim M. Kimselius The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova Kimselius book are for young adults and she writes about two teenagers Theo and Ramona who travel in time to exciting historical places. She is very popular in Sweden, and I read the books since I took a writing class by her. Her books are well researched and a pleasure to read. The Historian is a vampire kind of story. It is a mix of genres going into the Gothic, adventures and detective fiction, mixed with a lot of history. Partly based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, but I would say a story entirely by itself. It took me quite a while to read it, but it had so many elements of history and folklore so I found it very interesting. Have you read any of the books? Or any of the authors? Please let me know what you think.

Another month has gone by and it was a rather slow one for me. Weather not inspiring and I feel I have hardly done anything. Easter passed by with a couple of excursions, otherwise weather kept me in. For a reader it is really not a big problem. I did read 12 books, and some from my TBR shelves so happy with that. The books The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima En sommar med Homeros (Un été avec Homère) by Sylvain Tesson (NF) Handbok i livets konst (The Handbook) by Epictetus (NF) Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano Lessons in Stoicism by John Sellars (NF) Augustus by Eva Queckfeldt (NF) (Audio) A Lost Man by Jane Harper Gruppen by Sigge Eklund Undsättningen, Det danska fälttåget till Kristianstad 1678 (NF) by Stefan Persson and Jimmy Juhlin Alftberg Sveriges stormaktstid by Dick Harrison (NF) De försvunna by Magnus Carling The Lion's Skin by Rafael Sabatini Three of the books above have individual reviews. Half of the books are nonfiction and the other half fiction, of which three are classics, Mishima, Modiano and Sabatini. Still reading a lot of history nonfiction, of which the Roman Empire still holds a fascinating. Two stoic novels this month and a biography of Emperor Augustus. All very interesting. The fiction books A variety of books, which could put under a common title of 'Searching for someone or something'. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima is a love story, but the three main characters are all looking for something. Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano is not one of his typical books. His characters are always seeking something, mostly memories. In this book he ventures into, if I understood it correctly, a real story about a girl who disappeared during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Still looking for something. A Lost Man by Jane Harper, where the mystery is a man who died in the desert like wilderness in Australia. Gruppen (The Group) by Swedish author Sigge Eklund is a newly published novel about a young girl looking for something not revealed. She is getting attached to a group of young jet setters in Madrid, which leads to a surprise revelation at the end of the story. De försvunna (The Disappeared) by Swedish author Magnus Carling is a very different kind of detective story. The main protagonist, a police, is badly injured during a call to a flat suspected of domestic violence. While recuperating, and morning his dead daughter, he 'hears and sees things' which leads him to an old case of disappearing children. Slightly super natural tones in this book, and a different approach to a case which I found interesting. The Lion's Skin by Rafael Sabatini, a classical adventure author. I have not read anything by him earlier, and I think the story does not really stand the test of time, although I slightly enjoyed it. A man looking for the father he has never known, and promising his stepfather to revenge his mother. He is setting off from France to England, but life comes in between and the revenge? Well, you can always change your mind. Especially, if love is in the air. Best books The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima and En sommar med Homeros (Un été avec Homère) by Sylvain Tesson (NF) will also be on the list for best books this year. Excellent, both of them, in different ways. Jane Harper is always good and with A Lost Man she is at her very best. I have read Force of Nature, The Dry, and The Survivors by her. I still think the first one I read, Force of Nature, stands out, but A Lost Man comes a good second. What about you? Have you read any of these books?

Late as usual with my posts. I have been five days in Oslo to visit my son. There were so many things to do, so not so much time for literary achievements. Rebekah reads and writes about social justice, atheism, religion, science history, and more on She Seeks Nonfiction . Week 4 (11/20-11/24) Worldview Shapers: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is learning all kinds of things about our world which you never would have known without it. There’s the intriguing, the beautiful, the appalling, and the profound. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Do you think there is a book that should be required reading for everyone? Time to look at your reading and answer a few questions. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? I don't read a lot of contemporary nonfiction. I think it just affects me so much, since, most of the time, it is about bad things. You just have to go to the news for this. However, I should go deeper into contemporary history and time, to know more in depth about our world. But, for now, it is all about history and some author's biographies. For the time being I am reading a lot about Ancient and Classic Greece and the Roman Empire. It is the ground of which our Western Society is built, and makes a big impact on our world today. The more you read, the more you realise that many of the words we use today, many things within culture and tradition come from these faraway times. Furthermore, we can still go around and have a look at what they built thousands of years ago. Still here for us to enjoy. Is there one book that made you rethink everything? I don't really know. I come to think of Darwin and his thesis. I think he was very brave at the time, to publish his research and thoughts. I have on my TBR Darwin's Sacred Cause, Race, Slavery and the quest for Human Origins by Adrian Desmond, and James Moore. Time to read now? If we look at biology there is the Swedish biologist Carl von Linné. I have a book about his life and achievements; Jag tänker på Linné, Han som såg allt (I am thinking of Linné, He who saw everything, my translation. Unfortunately, does not seem to be translated in English) by Karin Berglund. He arranged the nature and gave plants and flowers a name. Do you think there is a book that should be required reading for everyone? I can't really think of any specific book. Although, I think that all people should read about history and politics of their own country. It is always a good way to start. Then you can continue with the world and our whole existence. Does this sound a little bit overwhelming?

I have hardly ever managed to read any of the spin books, but I am always hopeful. There are a few very thick books on the list, but I am hoping for a thinner one. Here is my list. 1. The Master and Margarita by Michail Bulgakov 2. The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott  3. Daisy Miller by Henry James 4. The Seahawk by Rafael Sabatini.    5. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoj 6. The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster 7. Child Harold by Lord Byron 8. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton 9. The Red and the Black by Stendhal 10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 11. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak  12. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (last spin) 13. The Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum 14. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding 15. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway 16. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 17. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham 18. An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey 19. The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier 20. The World of Yesterday, Memoirs of a European by Stefan Zweig Have you read any of these books? If I decide to read one in between the spins, which one would you recommend? Good luck with your lists and I hope you get a favourite one.

April is gone and we are heading for May. Difficult to think of, considering the weather we have here in Sweden. April has been cold and windy, cloudy with some rain. Where is the sun, one wonders. The good thing is that in the last few days it has visited us, and with comes a little bit of warmer weather. I have done a few, smaller trips during April which made it all the better. You can read more about them in my newsletter. April was a slow reading month. I don't really know why, since I think I did read quite a lot. I ended up having read five books. A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins I think this is my third Hawkins, and maybe the one I liked the least. It was rather slow in the beginning, or just that the introduction of characters seemed a little bit too much for me. However, it was soon over and the story got going, making it difficult to put the book down. You were left to the very end to know who did it. Although, I did have a few guesses the end turned out a big surprise. Always good for me. Hemma (Daheim/At Home) by Judith Hermann I read this for one of my book clubs and did not like it at all. After having read it, I was wondering what it was all about. However, as you start discussing it with other people, characters and their actions keep bouncing up and showing themselves in another shape. This improved my impression of the book, which has been highly praised in Germany. She, the narrator, has left her former life behind, and moved from the city to the sea. Her husband is somewhere in the background, they still have contact through letters, but it seems they can not live together. Her daughter is travelling the world in remote places so contacts are rare. She finds a new life working in a lake tavern owned by her brother. Making friends with a female neighbour and a pig farmer, and takes a new look at her life. Judith Hermann talks about the unreliable memory of what was, as a cross road comes and your life splits into new ways. Filosofi på 30 sekunder (Philosophy in 30 seconds) edited by Barry Loewer My attempt to learn more about philosophy. It is an easy enough introduction to the greatest philosophers. That does not mean that I do understand everything. Often philosophical discussions tend to make my head go around and I find no answer in the end, justing feeling more confused. But, some of the thoughts I think I got a clearer view of. Vi drabbade samman med våra ödens hela bredd: författarparet Moa och Harry Martinson by Ebba Witt-Brattström This is a biography, or it reads more like an academic paper, on two, early 20th century Swedish authors who were married for ten years. In those days, we talk 1920s and onwards, female authors were rare, and male authors took the stage. Interesting story about Harry who got the Nobel Prize for his Flowering Nettles in 1974, and Moa, who was the more popular author, and their lives, work and legacies. The Teutonic Knights by William Urban This was a good book to read for my Polish trip where we visited Malbork (Marienburg in German) where the Teutonic Knights had their headquarters. Fantastic place, and I wrote about it in my newsletter. Urban is a professor in history in Illionis, USA. He has been teaching in several universites around the world and is an expert on German and Baltic history. This you notice when reading the book. I think everything there is to know about the Knights and their fights to turn heathens into Christians is there. It was turbulent times, fights going on everywhere, an especially eastwards towards where the Baltic states, Ukraine and Russia are today. The grand masters of the Knights, the different kings and princes of the eastern areas are changing all the time and it is not easy to get an overview of this turbulent history. That was it for April. I will do a bit of travelling in May, meaning I will probably read more from my ipad than from my physical books. I have read 20 books from my TBR this year, out of 168, so I am quite pleased with that. Have you read any of these books? Any views?

Novellas in November is hosted by Cathy of 746 Books and Rebecca of Bookish Beck . The theme of week 4 is: The Short and the Long of It Pair a novella with a nonfiction book or novel that deals with similar themes or topics. Not entirely easy for me, but then I remembered a novella I read some years ago, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. I really liked this Gothic novella about a female vampire. It comes natural to pair it with Dracula by Bram Stoker. It turns out that Le Fanu's story was published in 1872, 25 years before Dracula. Could Bram Stoker have been inspired by this story? "The story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein. The character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist." (Wikipedia) There is an interesting analysis on Wikipedia on the story, influences and what might have influenced Le Fanu to write it. There is also an interesting point of view: "Some critics, among them William Veeder, suggest that Carmilla , notably in its outlandish use of narrative frames, was an important influence on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (1898). This is a very interesting novella. I think you can download it from the internet. If you read it, I would be happy to hear what you think about it.

I found this vintage copy of a Japanese classic on the annual book sales. I wanted to read more by Japanese writers and I thought this could be a good start. The book starts with an introduction to Mishima who was born into a samurai family. This meant to live by a " code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen ." He has written many short stories, and films have been based on his novels. " After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility tetralogy in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On November 25th 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuka (ritual suicide) at the age of 45. " Well, the story of he, himself, makes for wanting to read his novels and short stories. I was totally absorbed by the story in this novel. A young widow who lives with her 14 year old son, meets a sailor randomly. They enter into a love affair. The man tries to interact with the son, as he falls very much in love with the mother. The son is difficult to get a grip of. He discovered a whole in the wall between his bedroom and that of his mother, and overlooks her evening routines, and, what follows when she meets the sailor. "Fusako teased the ashtray with her cigarette and then snuffed it out. The man still nested in every nook of her body. She was aware of her flesh beneath the clothes as continuous, thigh and breast in warm accordance: it was a new sensation. And she could still smell the sweat of the man. As if to test them, she curled her stockinged toes." From here Mishima lets us follow all three characters. The love story is very well described and you wish the best for the lovers. However, there is a shadow looming over their relationship. The son's feeling for the new man are somewhat biased. He is also influenced by the group of friends from school that he is seeing. We learn rather early that the actions of this group is not normal. As the story continues, you, as a reader, feel that something is not right. The closer the end you come, the more the sense of doom hangs over you. "In the grand dream Ryuji had treasured secretly for so long, he was a paragon of manliness and she the consummate woman; and from the opposite corners of the earth they came together in a chance encounter, and death wed them. Outdistancing tawdry farewells then, with streamers waving and strains of "Auld Lang Syne," and far from sailors' fickle loves, they were to descend to the bottom of the heart's great deep where no man has ever been ..." "Ryuji asked for her fan and shooed the mosquitoes away. Lamps on distant masts twinkled like ocher stars; bulbs in the eaves of the warehouses directly below stretched in regular, bright rows." The whole novel is so beautifully written that I could quote every line here, but I have to limit myself. The beauty with which Mishima describes ordinary things, harbours, boats, surroundings that not always look very nice in real life, brings wonderful prose to every page of the novel. A must read if you like Japanese literature, and I am curious to read something else by him. Lastly, a quote from the boys, the chief being the boy that leads the gang. "The chief scrutinised their faces and saw tension easing out of their cheeks, fear dwindling away. Awakening for the first time to society's sweet cordiality, the boys fel secure in the knowledge that their enemies were actually their protectors."

I had read several reviews on this book, and was happy when I found it at a camping in Croatia this year. I think it will go down as the best book read in 2023. It is a wonderful story that stays with you, long after you have finished the book. From the back cover. "On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century - in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own." David and Caroline know what happened, and have to live with the consequences their whole lives. Norah and Paul are ignorant of what happened, but still the events on this harsh winter night affects them as well. Norah cannot come to terms with that fact that her daughter died. Maybe because she did not see the body with her own eyes, she has a feeling that all is not well. Paul, as one of a pair of twins, misses his sister, even if he does not realise it himself. David was sure he did the right thing. The life expectancy for children with Down's Syndrome, at the time, seems to have been very short, and there were not many fascilities that could give these children a comfortable life or the help needed. He does not understand Norah's problems, and dedicate his life to his work, and later on, to photography. He knows that Caroline has taken care of her and sends money every month. But, as life goes on, he thinks more and more about his daughter. "He saw he'd been caught, frozen for all these years in that moment when he handed Caroline his daughter." Caroline, a single woman, in love with David at the time, takes Phoebe with her to hand her over to the institution. Once there, she is terrified to see how the patients live, and, in the spur of the moment, she leaves with the baby. She leaves the city where they live to find another place for them to live. As the story evolves we follow these four characters and the traumas that one action give to all of them. I don't want to go further into the story since it would give away spoilers. Especially about Caroline's struggles in giving Phoebe a good place in the world. It is also a story about consequences of our actions, that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It does not matter that you do good in other areas, for other people, it goes down to the initial decision. "David Henry she had typed already, correctly. But his last name, Mc Callister, had been lost. He had never told anyone. He had gone off to college and registered, and no one ever knew. It was, after all, his true name. Still, David Henry was a different person from David Henry McCallister, that much he knew, and it seemed clear it was as David Henry he was meant to go to college, a person with no history, unburdened by the past. A man with a chance to make himself anew." As I was nearing the end (my pocket version has 401 pages) I was wondering how the story would end. Would Norah and Paul find out about Phoebe or not? Well, I will not reveal anything here. If you have not yet read the book, I can highly recommend it. It is a wonderful story, thrilling and heartbreaking. Beautifully written without putting the blame to any individual person. The way things are in life, we all try to do what we think is right. Sometimes, it turns out not to be right thing to do. But, then it is too late. Or, can a decision be mended?

The Classic club has announced a new spin. My results in this challenge are not very good. I seldom manage to read the chosen book. Even now, I am late with this post, but inspired by the spin, I will try to do my best this time. It did not start very good, because I could not find my list. I have changed my blog provider, and taken away the challenge label I had before. However, I found my list from 2022, took away a couple of books I had actually read, and added two more books. Voilà, here the new list for a new year. As you can see, number 20 is A Writer's Notebook by Somerset Maugham. I have had this for ages, read part of it, but could not be inspired by it. I do like Somerset Maugham's writing, but maybe this one was too early for me. Since I seem to have lost my book mark, I will start all over again, and hopefully be surprised over how much I love it. Has any one of you read his notebook? Looking forward to see what your book will be.