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This year my journey took me to Batumi. So now I'm exploring the local bookstores. Today's catch includes poems by Thomas Hardy 🤎🤎🤎 taken in Batumi, Georgia by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

One of my best purchases. All of Van Gogh's letters with illustrations 🌌✨ by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

Vincent van Gogh. A man of an extraordinary fate and a deeply mysterious death.

What do you know about his final days? About the way he died? Honestly, just a week ago, I knew almost nothing..but now, it feels like I know everything, and even more.

And it’s all thanks to La Valse des arbres et du ciel by the incredible Jean-Michel Guenassia (yes, I can confidently say he’s one of my favorite authors now). This slim novel about Van Gogh’s last days contains an entire world - France in the 1890s, alive with newspaper clippings, letters, and whispers of the era. The storytelling was so immersive that by the end, my heart ached.

I can only hope this version of events isn’t true… but even that small comfort doesn’t make the death of this genius at 37 any less tragic.

Highly recommend this book and this author by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

I’m just remembering a wonderful book I read a year ago.. by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

On this lovely August day, I’m back with the books I’m currently reading!

First up is The Waltz of Trees and the Sky (La valse des arbres et du ciel) by Jean-Paul Genaissia. This is my second book by this French author. It’s a hauntingly beautiful novel about Van Gogh’s final days. Sadly, I couldn’t find an English edition to show you, but I’m absolutely loving it. Honestly, I don’t think this author could disappoint me because I’ve been in love with his writing since last year!

My second read is The Breakthrough by Daphne du Maurier. I adore her books and am challenging myself to read it in the original English (wish me luck!)

What are you reading right now? Any recommendations? by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

Why did one book make me cry, but not the other?

🤎 Sorry, but there are spoilers 🤎

Recently, I read two books with completely different plots, yet united by one key detail: a tragic ending. I won’t compare their themes or messages. Instead, I want to talk about the authors’ storytelling styles.

So, which of these writers made me cry yet again? The answer: Thomas Hardy.
This was my third book by him, and I fell in love all over again. Like Hugo, Hardy’s story was tragic from the very beginning. Both books explore themes of class divide, social status, and the harsh contrasts between wealth and poverty, so neither had a "happy" tone to begin with.

But here’s the difference: Hardy makes me feel everything so deeply. Rereading the heartbreaking ending of «The Woodlanders», I realize that every step of the story was leading there. It was inevitable. Hardy must have known this ending from the start, because it’s painfully realistic, and it shatters your heart because you see how everything truly had to unfold this way.

Hugo, on the other hand, didn’t convince me. The ending of «The Man Who Laughs» was happy… until the last two pages. Seriously? Two pages to turn everything tragic? I just don’t feel it and because of that, I didn’t cry. It felt like the author decided at the last moment, without laying the groundwork. Real life can be unpredictable, yes, but a story should feel whole, connected with everything. And this one was brilliant, profound, and thought-provoking until those final pages broke the spell.

What do you think? Have you ever felt betrayed by an ending?

P.S. I loved both books, but I guess I’m more of a Hardy fangirl than a Hugo one. by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

Hello, my dear bookish friend 🤎

It’s been so long...I don’t even know who’s still here. But to those of you who are.. It’s such a joy to be back.

A lot has happened since I disappeared. This year, I finished my bachelor’s degree and got accepted into a master’s program (starting September 1st, wish me luck!). And, of course, I’ve been reading.

My July has been intense
- The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas (I fell in love)
- Atlas Shrugged, Rand (I adore her)
- Possession, Byatt (It was difficult, but I did it and liked it)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, Pernoud (Unbelievable story of life, women power)

Now, I’m diving into Hugo’s The Man Who Laughs, it's gothic, tragic, and utterly mesmerizing. I bet I'll tears

What about you? What pages have kept you company lately? Let’s chat and discuss itI 📖✨ by @upnw_classics

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a year ago

Hiii! 🍂🤎🍪

How are you? by @upnw_classics

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2 years ago

Blueberry book Tag + Blue book stack 💙🤎💙

Thank you @readwithjiwon + @bookswmimii for the these cool tags!

What's your favorite book with a blue cover?

🤎 blueberries: an emotional read
- Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne Nathaniel

I really love these books. In the process of reading, they caused me a storm of emotions. Tess's book is shown in the second photo on the left, and the letter book can be easily distinguished by the Scarlet cover, which depicts roses

💙 blueberry bread: an anticipated read
- Historical chronicles by Shakespeare

My new book from which I expect a lot. You can see it in the centre of the first pic

🤎 blueberry bagel: a short and sweet read
- Martin Eden

It's not a very sweet book, but I want to mark it as a brilliant one. The book cover depicts boats and waves, you can find it in the first photo

💙 blueberry pie: your next blue read
- Moonstone by Collins I suppose or Shakespeare

🤎 blueberry muffin: a book with wholesome characters
-The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli

Here I mean of course Mavis Claire. I adore her character and want to be similar to her. You can find it to the left of my hand in the first photo.

Enjoy this tag if you want! No pressure 🫐🤎 taken in Blueberry by @upnw_classics

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2 years ago

🤎 Spoilers are possible 🤎

The cover of the "Secret History" depicts the painting "Diana and Actaeon" by Lucas Cranach St.

So why did the publisher decide to choose it? The answer is simple. This is an ideal reference to what is happening in the book, which the publisher masterfully and originally veiled through the picture.

The meaning and significance of the painting "Diana and Actaeon" is that it depicts an ancient myth in which Actaeon (spied on Diana and her nymphs bathing) saw something wonderful that he should not have, as a result of which he was turned into a deer by a beautiful stranger and torn to pieces by his own dogs.

If we rethink this myth and draw parallels with the book, then we can understand that Actaeon is a group of our students. References to Dostoevsky also interfere here, because our main characters put themselves somewhat above all other people. They are driven by their own curiosity, they want to experience something unusual and magnificent, as a result of which they arrange a bacchanal and kill the first person. But they don't stop there. They commit the next crime, already realized and thought out.

However, there is no beautiful goddess in the secret story who punishes them. There are people who punish themselves. They are literally being torn apart by their own dogs. In a metaphorical sense, dogs are their consciousness, their soul, their remaining ideas about morality. Each of the heroes has doomed himself to his own fate.

Richard, who remembers everything after a long time and it torments him. Francis, who couldn't come to terms with what happened, and I, his whole life went downhill. Charles, who had already lost his human form by the end of the semester, lost himself. Camilla, who went into the world of shadows for Henry. And Henry. Henry, who himself ceased to exist with his own hands.

Thus, Donna Tartt's novel is a novel about the human recklessness of people who believe that they are better than others. And what kind of punishment will follow, we can already tell just by looking at the cover. taken in Hampden College by @upnw_classics

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2 years ago

❤️🍒Cherry Book Tag 🍒❤️

🥀 Books I cannot stop thinking about
The choice is really difficult because I often think about different books I read. Nevertheless, ok! Top three!
1) The book thief by Markus Zusak. I think everyone should read this book.
2) We the Living by Ayn Rand. It's about Life in the USSR after the revolution, about how everything changed and how people behaved. It was 100 years ago, but in fact, little has changed.
3) The Incorrigible Optimists Club by Jean-Michel Guenassia. This book is also related to USSR because the main heroes emigrate from there and now they are building their lives from scratch in Paris.

🍒 Snacks I'm loving
Сhocolate-covered prunes.

🥀 Most anticipated reads
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

🍒 Hobbies besides reading
Badminton is my love forever + playing saxophone (I played in orchestra about 5 years ago and now I'm dreaming about doing it again)

🥀 Favourite Book Couples
Nobody I suppose

🍒 Popular Books I could not get into
I can't get into Ray Bradbury. I have not read any of his books, but for some reason it seems to me that this is not mine.

Thank you @pavlovnart for tagging me ♥️ by @upnw_classics

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2 years ago

The end. But I can't keep quiet. It's unbelievable.

The name of a book is «The Black Prince», but the main hero isn't a prince actually. He's writer. Talanted writer.

It's hard for me to collect my thoughts after such a finale, but I can't stop writings it.

A. Murdoch's novel "The Black Prince" is the pinnacle
of the author's psychological prose. In this book you can meet unbelievable breathtaking love and cruel betrayal, cynicism, hypocrisy and decency..

In this book we can follow the life of a writer Bradley Pearson, his work, his actions, his reflections, reasonings, feelings and thoughts - the desire to know the Truth and write a masterpiece. In fact, I've become so close to this character from the book that I can't let him go. Impossible.

The book is not simple, it is sometimes difficult to read it. But it's worth it. It's about art, about people, about Hamlet, about life, about love, about honor and lies. Read it, please.

Nobody know about this masterpiece 🙏🤎 by @upnw_classics

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2 years ago