2017-08-28 15:00
Thoughts in a Library(from Poems: 1848)Speak low—tread softly through these halls; Here genius lives enshrined,—Here reign, in silent majesty, … Read More
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Edith's Miscellany Blog
edith-lagraziana.blogspot.com
A blog about good literature, including reviews of books, literary film adaptations and author's portraits supplemented by own writings.
2017-08-25 15:00
Who we are is the result of many influences to which we have been exposed since the day we were born or, to be exact, since the moment we were conceived. The people we met, the choices we ma… Read More
2017-08-21 15:00
To the Garden the World (from Leaves of Grass: 1855) To the garden, the world, anew ascending, Potent mates, daughters, sons, preluding, The love, the life of their bodies, meaning and being… Read More
2017-08-18 15:00
The death of a person often unleashes a train of unexpected thoughts and memories, sometimes even events. Moreover, it can make us question our relations to other people, notably spouses and… Read More
2017-08-16 15:15
Two classics and three contemporary novels are filed away in my review archive of August 2014, three of them originally written in French and contributions to the Books on France 2014 readin… Read More
2017-08-14 15:00
Traumesnähe (aus Die neue Scheherezade: 1913)Nur unser Traum ist nahUnd fern ist uns die unserem AugeNahgerückte Welt.Was nicht Gedanken,Was Blut selbst lautlos-rauschendTiefd… Read More
2017-08-11 15:00
China is a vast country with an ancient culture, and yet, only few books from the pens (or rather brushes) of Chinese writers have made it into Western bookshops. This is little wonder consi… Read More
2017-08-09 15:00
Health and Social Gradient:Status Syndrome by Michael MarmotIt’s a generally known fact that poverty makes sick, but in our modern Western world people usually don’t fight for me… Read More
2017-08-07 15:00
Summer Night(from The Princess. A Medley: 1847)Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:The firefly w… Read More
2017-08-04 15:00
For some people it’s hard to find their place in society or even in a family because they actually are different or either they themselves or others believe that they are. It suffices… Read More
2017-07-31 15:00
Time and We(from A Doric Read: 1895)Improve the moments while you may.For Time is flying, mortals say; But… Read More
2017-07-28 15:00
Very popular subjects of the famous Japanese colour woodblock prints from the seventeenth century on are scenes from ephemeral life in the pleasure districts which accounts for their being c… Read More
2017-07-24 15:00
Summer Wind(from Poems: 1840)It is a sultry day; the sun has drunkThe dew that lay upon the morning grass;There is no rustling in the lofty elmThat canopies my dwelling, and its shadeScarce… Read More
2017-07-21 18:45
Already the ancient Greeks knew that everything is in flow or as Heraclitus of Ephesus put it: πάντα ῥεῖ. In bad times this may be a great consolatio… Read More
2017-07-17 15:00
Life’s Gifts(from Dreams: 1890)I saw a woman sleeping. In her sleep she dreamt Life stood before her, and held in each hand a gift—in the one Love, in the other Freedom. And she… Read More
2017-07-14 15:17
It’s not a particularly secret wisdom that those who have wealth are likely to have power too. After all, it’s money that makes the world go round… at least a materialisti… Read More
2017-07-12 15:00
A Suffocating Village: Death in Spring by Mercè RodoredaLess than a year ago I reviewed a novel by Catalan author Mercè Rodoreda (1908-1983) who is much celebrated in her count… Read More
2017-07-10 15:00
Quite by Chance(from Poets at Play. A Hand-Book of Humorous Recitations: 1888)She flung the parlour window wide One eve of mid-July,&nbs&hell…Read More
2017-07-07 15:25
War is a terrible curse, but a man-made one that its advocates and profiteers always tried to sell as necessary to protect or restore the country’s safety, strength, honour, identity… Read More
2017-07-03 15:00
A Summer’s Day(from Verses: 1893)Well, love, so be it as you say,Just the hours of a summer's day,And no sighing for what comes after,Whether it be tears or laughter.Take my hand, and… Read More
2017-06-30 15:00
Although we often – usually when we feel misunderstood or hurt – complain about the lack of empathy in people today, it isn’t a quality that our technology-based and highly… Read More
2017-06-26 15:00
Les Chats(de Les Fleurs du mal: 1857)Les amoureux fervents et les savants austèresAiment également, dans leur mûre saison,Les chats puissants et doux, orgueil de la maiso… Read More
2017-06-23 15:00
Human soul is amazing. Ever again it happens that instead of being crushed by a terrible experience a person draws great force from it and even succeeds in transcending it into a powerful in… Read More
2017-06-21 15:00
In June 2014 I went a little astray reading-wise. The two contempory works as well as the two classics that I reviewed belong to genres that I don’t usually read. I started with a comi… Read More
2017-06-19 15:00
An Australian Rose (from Lala Fisher [ed.], By Creek and Gully. Stories and Sketches Mostly of Bush Life: Told in Prose and Rhyme by Australian Writers in England: 1899)Patchett MartinTo R… Read More
2017-06-16 15:00
Looked upon from an outsider’s point of view much of human behaviour must seem rather strange, if not ridiculous and without purpose. And if this is true of what we do, how much more a… Read More
2017-06-14 15:01
A Child’s View of Africa in the 1960s: The Famished Road by Ben Okri It was in autumn 2016 when one of those e-mails offering the free copy of a book for review that I regularly r… Read More
2017-06-12 15:00
The Literary Lady(from W. H. Wills [ed.]: Poets' Wit and Humour: 1860)What motley cares Corilla's mind perplex,Whom maids and metaphors conspire to vex!In studious dishabille behold her sit… Read More
2017-06-09 15:00
There are heaps of fiction works dealing with World War Two and the holocaust, but most of them have been written long after the unspeakable horrors and by authors who could look at the peri… Read More
2017-06-05 15:00
The Lotus(from Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan: 1882)Love came to Flora asking for a flower That would of flowers be undispute… Read More
2017-06-02 15:00
Every end comprises everything that was before. This is especially true for us human beings because not just own experiences make us the people who we are but through socialisation we also c… Read More
2017-05-29 15:00
A May Night On The Mountains(from Australian Town and Country Journal: 29 June 1889)’Tis a wonderful time when these hours begin,These long ‘small hours’ of night,When gras… Read More
2017-05-26 15:00
Much in life comes as a surprise, be it an agreeable or an unpleasant one. Biographies without more or less significant swerves, detours or even sharp turns are rare although we tend to beli… Read More
2017-05-22 15:00
The Music of the Stream(from Poems and Ballads: 1868)Is it a spirit voice—an angel’s song—That pours its liquid melody amongThe mossy stones that break the rippling sheen,L… Read More
2017-05-19 15:28
The years of the Weimar Republic in Germany between 1919 and 1933 were a crucial period in European and world history. The political atmosphere after World War One and after the abdication o… Read More
2017-05-17 15:00
For some odd reason my reads of three years ago told without exception sad, if not depressing stories. My first read in May 2014 was Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys, a much acclaimed Eng… Read More
2017-05-15 15:00
The Heart of Night(from Later Poems: 1926)When all the stars are sownAcross the night-blue space,With the immense unknown,In silence face to face.We stand in speechless aweWhile Beauty march… Read More
2017-05-12 15:00
It isn’t easy to defy established role models or other unwritten rules of society to go your own way, to make a career that people say wasn’t meant for you because you were born… Read More
2017-05-10 15:00
The Unpopular Genius: Gustav Mahler by Alma Mahler-WerfelAs beautiful, highly educated and endowed for the arts as Alma Mahler-Werfel (1879-1964) was, she could have achieved a lot in the wo… Read More
2017-05-08 15:00
Rozenknop(uit Vondelingskens: 1920)'k Hoù niet van volbloeide roze,Die heur hart heeft uitgezeid,Die bij 't oop'nenVan heur broze weelde,D'éérste stervenstrane schreit.'… Read More
2017-05-05 15:00
Freedom, independence and self-determination are values that we hold high in esteem in our modern western-style democracies, but to gain as well as to keep them often had and sometimes still… Read More
2017-05-01 15:00
May-Day(from The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems: 1821)Now happy swains review the plains, And hail the first of May;Now linnets sing… Read More
2017-04-28 15:00
Looking back on the twentieth century, the family histories of most Europeans are full of tragic moments. There was World War One to begin with, but as we know the disaster far from ended th… Read More
2017-04-24 15:00
Moonset(from Flint and Feather: 1912)Idles the night wind through the dreaming firs,That waking murmur low,As some lost melody returning stirsThe love of long ago;And through the far, cool d… Read More
2017-04-22 13:59
The twentieth century before World War One is widely known as the belle époque although already at the time those willing to see could make out the signs of looming disaster. Then jus… Read More
2017-04-19 15:00
My reads of three years ago were quite diverse as regards the genre, while they were set in Europe – Albania and France – and the Americas – Brazil and the USA – resp… Read More
2017-04-17 15:00
An Easter Rhyme(from The Bulletin: 7 May 1892)Easter Monday in the city— Rattle, rattle, rumble, rush;Tom and Jerry, Nell and Kitt… Read More
2017-04-14 15:00
To give way to feelings of inferiority and fear, to envy and ill will, to hatred and malice is never a good idea because it leads straight into a life of ever growing misery. Once caught in… Read More
2017-04-12 15:00
A Widower’s Grief: Bruges-la-morte by Georges RodenbachWomen or men who need to come to terms with the loss of a loved one are popular figures in literature. Since readers like happy e… Read More
2017-04-10 15:00
The Weaver of Bruges(from The Highland Weekly News of March 19, 1884)The strange old streets of Bruges townLay white with dust and summer sun,The tinkling goat bells slowly passedAt milking… Read More
2017-04-07 17:15
Some experiences and decisions can cast a lifelong shadow on our souls making us overly suspicious and critical of everything and everyone. Such general contempt is likely to make us unhappy… Read More
2017-04-03 15:00
Huidenvettersplein in Bruges via Wikimedia CommonsOn Leaving Bruges(from Ballads and Sonnets: 1881)The city's steeple-towers remove away,Each singly; as each vain infatuate FaithLeaves God i… Read More
2017-03-31 15:00
According to scientists specialised in the workings of the brain, the present lasts no longer than three seconds. Certainly, when we say “now”, we seldom think of it as such a sh… Read More
2017-03-27 15:00
Tender Mercies(from Hymns and Meditations: 1850)Tender mercies, on my wayFalling softly like the dew,Sent me freshly every day,I will bless the Lord for you.Though I have not all I would,Tho… Read More
2017-03-24 17:23
In many parts of the world eco-activists are sniggered at or much worse because people feel that they have more pressing problems than protecting their environment – worries about pota… Read More
2017-03-20 17:12
Frühlingsgruß(aus Lyrische Blätter: 1835)Frühling, Frühling, sei willkommen,Sei willkommen uns aufs neu’,Nun du wieder heimgekommenMit der alten Lieb’ u… Read More
2017-03-17 16:00
For few people life is a bed of roses and even if it appears to be just that in one moment, in the very next moment it can turn to be the complete opposite. It depends on our attitude if we… Read More
2017-03-15 16:04
Looking back, I realise that among my four reviews of March 2014 three were quite on the Nobel side. I started into the month with a socialist classic from 1920 that is said to be the finest… Read More
2017-03-13 16:00
LXXIII White Sunshine(from The Poems of Lesbia Harford: 1941)The sun’s my fireGolden, from a magnificence of blueShould be its hue.But woolly cloudsLike boarding-house old ladies, come… Read More
2017-03-10 16:00
It’s a known fact that places of power are and have always been hotbeds of gossip, intrigue and crime. As capital of the Papal State and seat of her glamorous Court, the Holy See in Re… Read More
2017-03-08 16:00
An Author’s Fictionalised Experiences: The Novels of Ōe Kenzaburō by Yasuko ClaremontAll his life Gustave Flaubert claimed that only the story counted and that its author sho… Read More
2017-03-06 16:00
When Early March Seems Middle May(from Riley Farm-Rhymes: 1883)When country roads begin to thawIn mottled spots of damp and dust,And fences by the margin drawAlong the frosty crustTheir grap… Read More
2017-03-03 16:00
Every time I read a book set in Vienna around 1900, I’m amazed at the huge number of important people who lived there at the time and to find that many of them have known each other. I… Read More
2017-02-27 16:00
With a Bunch of Spring Flowers(from The Coming of the Princess and Other Poems: 1881)In the spring-time, out of the dew, From my garden, sweet friend, I gather, … Read More
2017-02-24 16:00
It isn’t always easy to understand and even less to wholeheartedly accept and support the choices of others. Of course, we all want family, friends, everybody in the whole world to be… Read More
2017-02-22 16:00
click on the image to go to the challenge on The Worm HoleA List of Twice Six Books- completed and forthcoming reviews -+ suggested Nobel reads that didn’t fit into my 2017 planningA n… Read More
2017-02-20 16:00
VeniceThe Carnival(from Beppo: A Venetian Story: 1818)Of all the places where the Carnival Was most facetious in the days of yore,For dance, and song, and serenade, and ball,&nbs&hell…Read More
2017-02-17 16:00
There is a reason why love letters have never entirely gone out of fashion. For some they are the epitome of romance because unlike the spoken word they are lasting and can be re-read at any… Read More
2017-02-15 16:00
Three years ago my bookish travels took me to four most enchanting and enjoyable reading destinations in Europe, East Asia and the Carribean. My first stop was in Paris, France, where I visi… Read More
2017-02-13 16:00
Valentines(from Candle Flame: 1926)Now little maid—with a Valentine; Most blythesome be and gay;For Valentines come not—come not— … Read More
2017-02-10 19:50
How often does it happen that the love that united a man and a woman turns into hatred as time advances and they drift apart. Some couples still manage to part in a civilised manner if not i… Read More
2017-02-08 16:00
Saint Augustine and His Abandoned Concubine: Vita Brevis by Jostein Gaarder During much of European history men shaped the world of things and thought as they believed right and passed over… Read More
2017-02-06 16:00
Cui Bono(from Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, Volume I: 1838)What is Hope? A smiling rainbowChildren follow through the wet;’Tis not here, still yonder, yonder:Never urchin found it… Read More
2017-02-04 08:22
There can be no doubt that relations between men and women are a favourite topic of writers. Literature offers everything from the vicissitudes of romantic love over the turmoils of an unsta… Read More
2017-02-01 16:00
Click on the image to go to thechallenge on Whatever I Think OfMy Long Longlist of Epistolary FictionAs I found out a year ago, February is the Month of Letters and I gladly seize the opport… Read More
2017-01-30 16:00
Luz e Sombra(de Poemas: 1932)Vamos seguindo pela mesma estrada,Em busca das paragens da ilusão;A alma tranqüila para o Céu voltada,Suspensa a lira sobre o coraç&ati&hell…Read More
2017-01-29 16:00
click on the image to go to the challenge on Books and Chocolate My Dozen of Classics- completed and forthcoming reviews -(subject to change)19th-century classic: Jens Peter Jacobsen: M… Read More
2017-01-27 16:17
Without any doubt, the first half of the twentieth century counts among the most unstable and most violent times in European history. For survivors and Spätgeborene (“late-born&rd&hell…Read More
2017-01-25 16:00
Click on the image to go to Dolce Belezza's challenge post with a list of all entriesJune 2016 - January 2017All good things come in threes! And so I participated also in the Japanese Litera… Read More
2017-01-23 16:00
After-Glow(from Severn & Somme: 1917)(To F. W. Harvey)Out of the smoke and dust of the little roomWith tea-talk loud and laughter of happy boys,I passed into the dusk. Suddenly the noise… Read More
2017-01-23 06:55
Many believe that until the break-through of photography painters did little more than depict what they, saw in reality or in imagination. In fact, even naturalistic pictures like portraits… Read More
2017-01-20 16:24
It seems to be deeply rooted in human nature to put the strong and powerful on a pedestal for unconditional adoration and to push the weak and helpless down into the gutter to trample on jus… Read More
2017-01-19 15:43
click on the image to go to thechallenge on peek-a-booK! Books Written By Women- completed and forthcoming reviews in alphabetical order -Mariama Bâ: So Long a Letter (1980), or… Read More
2017-01-19 15:39
click on the image to go to thechallenge on Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks52 Books – 52 Writers- completed and forthcoming reviews in alphabetical order -Mariama Bâ: So Long a Letter… Read More
2017-01-18 16:00
Three years ago I started into the blogging year with the last five of altogether 32 reviews for the European Reading Challenge 2013 hosted by Rose City Reader that closed on 31 January 2014… Read More
2017-01-16 16:00
Snow(from Verse: 1915)Look up…From bleakening hillsBlows down the light, first breathOf wintry wind…look up, and scentThe snow!Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914)American poet Read More
2017-01-11 16:00
To read the first work of a much adored writer can be either a revelation or more likely a deception, sometimes even a big one because not many succeed in producing outstanding literature al… Read More
2017-01-09 16:00
A Copse In Winter(from The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems: 1821)Shades though you're leafless, save the bramble-spearWhose weather-beaten leaves, of purple stain,In hardy stubbornness cli… Read More
2017-01-04 16:35
Welcome in a new blogging year – my fifth already! It goes without saying that on the coming fifty-two Fridays you can look forward to many reviews of gorgeous books from the pens of f… Read More
2017-01-02 16:00
Time (from Straws on the Stream: 1907)Time is not the cruel master,Slavish souls have sometimes thought;Faster driving us and faster,Till our work is good for nought.Time enjoys a day o… Read More
2016-12-31 16:00
1 January – 31 December 2016 For the 2016 edition of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks hosted by Robin of My Two Blessings on a special blog just for this annual challenge, I set myself the go… Read More
2016-12-30 16:00
2016 review of a book writtenby an author whose family name starts with the letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZAlthough the expression isn’t used in all languag… Read More
2016-12-28 16:00
1 January – 31 December 2016 This year was the second time that I participated in a reading challenge hosted by Valentina from the bilingual book blog peek-a-booK!. More precisely it… Read More
2016-12-27 18:16
One of the reading challenges for which I signed up in January without giving it a second thought is Read the Nobels 2016 hosted by Aloi aka the Guiltless Reader on her blogs Guiltless Readi… Read More
2016-12-26 16:00
For Saint Stephen’s Day(from A Small Garland of Pious & Godly Songs: 1684)Saint Stephen had an angel's faceAll full of virtue, full of grace,By the false Jews was stoned to death,F… Read More
2016-12-23 16:00
2016 review of a book writtenby an author whose family name starts with the letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMen and women claiming to be the illegitimate offspring… Read More
2016-12-21 16:00
Admittedly, it might already be a little late for a look back on my Christmassy reviews that closed the blogging year 2013. On the other hand, maybe you haven’t yet decided what to rea… Read More
2016-12-19 16:00
The Christmas Rose(from Love Triumphant and Other New Poems: 1898)O Star of hope and courage, winter-bound! Thy stem, now graced with that corolla white,All glistening clear, as if compact o… Read More
2016-12-16 15:59
2016 review of a book writtenby an author whose family name starts with the letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMost avid readers like me will know the experience. You… Read More
2016-12-14 16:00
A History of the Book Trade: The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee However much we love reading, we seldom think about the book trade in general or about bookshops in particular… Read More
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