Review: The Man Who Loved Dogs

The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a tour de force that is basically about three different people, all while covering one story (about the man who assassinated Trotsky) and, as far as I can tell, is very historically accurate.

What is curious is how, despite being a Cuban novel, it seems so Russian in feel and format. I can't help wondering if that was on purpose for this novel or if Russian literature influenced Cuban literature to some extent.

Regardless, I admit it got confusing at times. And by the end it seemed to drag on somewhat (especially in leading up to the assassination).



https://4201mass.blogspot.com/




View all my reviews

Review: Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalli

Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalli by Marco Ferrari
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a journey for me. I had no idea what to expect. At all. For some reason I thought it was a murder mystery, and it seemed like the slowest murder mystery to ever get started. After an embarrassing number of pages I realized I was probably wrong, and the book got better. Turns out they made a movie about it as well. The premise is a road trip from France to Portugal of two old friends right after the fall of Salazar.

Anyway, I'm taking advantage of the new partial star rating system. 3.5 stars.



https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: le forbici

le forbici by Giorgio Cimasoni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting autobiographical essays about growing up in Ticino (mostly around Bellinzona-Claro and a bit around Lugano lake) in the 1930s-1940s.

Most are interesting reminisces, and then suddenly the chapter Don Angelo discusses a pedophile priest molesting children over night. Since these stories are autobiographical, I assume the people involved are all deceased, but I'm surprirsed this didn't create more of a scandal when it was released.

https://4201mass.blogspot.com/



View all my reviews

Review: Pista nera

Pista nera by Antonio Manzini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting protagonist. Not bad as a mystery and talking about Aosta.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: The Habsburgs: To Rule the World

The Habsburgs: To Rule the World by Martyn Rady
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent overview (at least for me) of this family, which functioned as a state, or empire, but unlike Germany, France, etc. did not survive World War I. In many ways it was like the Ottoman empire, although one could argue that became Turkey. A fascinating read.





View all my reviews

Review: Akbar: The Great Mughal

Akbar: The Great Mughal by Ira Mukhoty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I confess I knew next to nothing about Akbar before reading this book, so for me it was perfect. I see many other reviewers complaining how it skipped this or that, or how it is repetitive. Regardless, I found it rather fascinating and, though I'm not sure how much will stick with me, I enjoyed it throughout.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: La corte dei misteri

La corte dei misteri by Mariacristina Pettorini Betti
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I confess I don't understand what the whole sidequest into the 80 year old dead bodies was for. I enjoyed the description and history of Lucca in general, but the murder mystery itself ended up being quite simplistic and repetitive (they literally repeated it all again for the conferenza stampa at the end, which lasted 3 pages).

https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: Blow-Up and Other Stories

Blow-Up and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Aside from Axolotl, I can't say any of these stories really spoke to me. I feel like I just wasn't in the right mindset, finding myself wanting the stories to finish and finding the intricate prose a bit tedious. I may have to give it another go, but only after a break.



https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: The Black Swan Mystery

The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have no idea why it would be called the Black Swan Mystery, since the Black Swan is seldom mentioned and doesn't seem to occupy any sort of pivotal spot or anything.

Plus the train schedules and stations just confused me. It probably would've been a lot more interesting if I were more familiar with the trains and stations, or at least with how they were back in 1959.

The ending was somewhat satisfying, with a smart villain.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/




View all my reviews

Review: Audition

Audition by Katie Kitamura
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I can't really say this book worked for me. I felt lost when the change occurred, but realized quite quickly what the author was doing. And it wrapped up quite predictably and anti-climactically given everything.

https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews