From the ebook series, we recommend a few books: click on the book title and Enjoy reading!
Max Blecher – Scarred Hearts
The novel Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher narrates the onset of the disease and the author's experience at the sanatorium in Berck-sur-Mer (France). Diagnosed with bone tuberculosis of the vertebrae (or Pott's disease), which causes grinding of the bones and purulent abscesses that must be cleaned with ether, sometimes while alive, the protagonist of the novel, named Emanuel, becomes a pensioner at the aforementioned sanatorium, where he meets numerous patients suffering from the same disease. With his torso fixed in plaster, lying on a cast, a kind of stretcher with wheels, the young man lives a simulacrum of life, in which everything must adjust to the condition of an invalid. Between those of his kind, young people mutilated by the disease, who lead their existence in plaster carcasses, bonds of sympathy or antipathy are established and even love finds its way: the hero lives an erotic relationship, within the limits imposed by the disease, with a former patient who has recovered and a delicate friendship towards a young woman who dies before his eyes; he rides in a carriage in the small resort or on the shore, escapes for a few weeks, living in a rented villa on the seashore. Finally, with the hope of recovery, he is transported by train to Switzerland, to another sanatorium. The pathological aspects are viewed lucidly, without passion, and the novel makes the disease a frame, not a central theme. The theme is, of course, the human condition. Death exists everywhere, the encounter with it is only a matter of time and each man strives to play, according to his abilities, the paths that destiny has placed in his hands.
Radu Paraschivescu – Romania in 7 gestures
As we are used to in previously published books, Paraschivescu's characters are public, well-known and considered to be role models. The book is intended to be a satire on human role models and their behavior in public space. The volume is extremely easy to read thanks to its accessible writing, being structured in seven chapters, starting with the portrayal of television personality Mihai Tatulici, then moving on to the exceptional measures of state leaders during the Mineriades, and finally bringing to the fore none other than Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The author does not want to describe these people/characters in their essence, but the type of behavior they have in the public space. So, a wonderful read, with extremely acidic language, but also comical at the same time, a book that will pleasantly surprise you!
Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is one of the most beautiful works of world literature. Vast in scope, this epic poem is made up of three parts: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The poem was written by Dante during his exile, between 1304 and 1321. The Divine Comedy tells the story of Dante's imaginary journey into the three worlds of the afterlife, into which the good and evil of the earthly world are projected. Dante is one of the first poets whose work is the subject of a university course. W.B. Yeats said that Dante's work represents the main imagination of Christianity, and T.S. Eliot said that Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them. There is no third. Traveling into the imaginary world of the afterlife, Dante carries with him all the feelings and passions of the living, dragging after him – as it was written – the entire earth.
F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is one of the most powerful and disturbing love stories in all of 20th century literature, written in 1925 by Scott Fitzgerald. The action takes place in America in the 1920s, the period of Prohibition, jazz, and women's emancipation, and tells the story of young Gatz, who changes his life, from being an Oxford student to a gangster, alcohol dealer, and then millionaire Jay Gatsby. Young Nick Carraway, a young man eager to fulfill his American destiny, crosses paths with Jay Gatsby and shares with us the story of a remarkable character in America of the last century, a prosperous land but with chaotic rules, a society of abundance, pleasures and fame. The Great Gatsby illustrates the love story between Gatsby, formerly poor, and Daisy, now married to Tom, a story that proves to be impossible, tragic, full of nostalgia for an unfulfilled dream, too long awaited and shattered once achieved, a book about the American dream that does not last forever.