Reti kuram mūsdienu literatūras darbam ir tik liela vēsturiskā nozīme kā Džeimsa Džoisa "Ulisam": tas kļuva par tik daudzu literatūras elementu pionieri, ka visu uzskaitīt laikam gan nav pat iespējams (it īpaši man, kas neesmu īpašs šīs tēmas eksperts). Grūti iedomāties literāru darbu, par kuru būtu uzrakstīts tik daudz pētījumu (vienīgās divas grāmatas, kas to šajā jomā noteikti pārspēj, ir Bībele un Šekspīra "Hamlets"). Grūti iedomāties grāmatu, kura ir tik prasīga pret lasītāju un kurā ir tik daudz elementu, kurus ierindas lasītājs nespēj uztvert (Umberto Eko, kā teikt, "can`t hold a candle" Džoisam). Ne velti standartā grāmatai līdzi nāk tāda apjoma komentāri, kas reizēm pārsniedz paša teksta apjomu (ievērojot to, ka arī romāns pats par sevi ir milzīgs). Un vienlaicīgi - grūti iedomāties grāmatu, kuras loma kā vēsturiskam darbam tik radikāli pārspēj tās pašas vērtību.

What do you want to tell me? Nothing. A title similar to this one was added to most of the pieces of art at this exhibition. If it was only that, I`d say, it ain`t so bad. But there was also some crazy stuff about visions and something that goes with them. Gray forms on huge black sheets, disturbing sounds, video of tomography and a few quite bloody photos - that`s what I saw. I really don`t want to taste the soup although it is not that sour as it might seem. Yeah, and I`ve never been to something like this before.

First there`s the world famous "The Inspector General" (aka `The Revizor`). If you don`t know about, shame on you, I don`t even want to tell you about it. Next comes a somewhat obscure short play with a long title. Then there`s "The Marriage" - another good comedy. And last but not least - "The Gamblers" - which actually deal with a subject common to "The Inspector General". To be honest most of the text is pure enjoyment which makes one wonder about the power of language Gogol had.

What if your child became a killer? You`re too young to be a parent for a child that could become a killer? But what if you weren`t? Or if you were a killer yourself? In this novel by Rosellen Brown we encounter an American family that`s seem to be pretty normal on the outside. Ben and his wife Carolyn are happily married, their children Jacob and Judith are smart and do well at school. But one day a girl is murdered in the little town where the family lives. And Jacob who was her boyfriend and who was the last person she was seen with becomes the prime suspect. Jacob flees after the murder and his parents have little doubt that he really is the killer. Difference can be only found in their approach towards this fact - while Ben tries all means possible to save his son by destroying all evidence of the crime there is Carolyn is prepared for Jake to go to prison (which is a thing he deserves for sure). The weird thing about the book is the fact that there`s no twist - Jacob has commited murder, although we may not have heard the true circumstances of the case but there is no doubt that he is a murderer. And there is no doubt that his father is a bit crazy too, otherwise he wouldn`t do what he does, which leads to Ben going to prison instead of his son (quite similar to "Deadeye Dick" where the main heros father is the one imprisoned and not the murderer himself). Whas everything that happened to Martha (Jacobs dead ex-girlfriend) mostly an accident? Should her parents forgive Jacob? I don`t really know. The book tends to be a bit too film-like for my taste (a film starring Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep was done after the novel but I haven`t seen it yet) yet it`s quite a rewarding read. Not too much brain usage required but a decent book nevertheless.

An action movie - at least it`s what it seems to be. What can I say? Most of it was nothing special, actually I didn`t find it that entertaining but towards the end it changed in the positive way. It sure ain`t that simple although characters are divided into black and white which doesn`t really appeal to me but that`s the case for most of the movies. Note on the overall rating: till something like 15 minutes before the end I was thinking to give it a 4 but at the end I found that it was not so bad after all.

A quite realistic story about a cop in Westindia in the middle of the 20th century. Some people die, some people don`t, the main character although being middleaged and married falls in love with a young but not pretty woman, has a difficult relationship with an influential Syrian merchant etc. It`s a book that can be read easily but that doesn`t stay in the memory for too long. Not first rate literature by any means - which is a clear indication that it won`t be found on the list of the best books the last century has given to us.

I read it because of Donnie Darko. Nothing special to my humble oppinion. I found it rahter dull - except for the quote which certainly goes well with the movie:

It might be the best way for a person to find some sort of a key to the person known ar J.P.Sartre (which is his really name, by the way). The book is an authobiography about Sartre`s childhood. Some episodes are quite amusing, for example, the way little J.P. rewrites books and imagines himself to be the author. I wouldn`t say that I have become a fan of the author after the book has been read but at least the background for his attitudes has got a bit clearer now.

Quite a heavy essay, I may say. The differences between a revolutionare and a rebel can be found here. Just as Camus` attitude towards Nietzsche and Marx. Educating but not very much amusing - although one should be crazy to read essays for amusement.

It`s one of those boring books in German. By the way, I`ve noticed that most Austrian writers are even worse than classical Germans themselves. With the exception of Kafka surely. God, what makes people like Broch waste paper to write about characters I have very little interest for? So, he writes about a man who`s a mathematician and a physicist. That`s cool. But the way he writes! It just drives me mad! Broch seems to be the German Joyce yet I can`t find anything experimental in his work it`s basically just depressingly uninspiring. The most interesting thing about this book wasn`t its contents for sure. When I was on the tram on my way home from work two days ago I intended to go on with reading "The Unknown Value" but I found it missing from my bag. "I`ve forgotten it on my table at work," was the first reaction. Despite that I checked at home whether the book was there (although I had read it on the way to work the very same day therefore it couldn`t be at home by definition). Yesterday when I came to work first thing I wanted to do was to put the book in the bag so I won`t forget it once again. But I couldn`t find it anywhere. Now that got me worried. I never like losing books from libraries and this seemed to be just the case. Luckily a colleague of mine with whom I also study together claimed to have noticed a book in German on a table in the University a day ago. So we went to our English class and after the class I went to the doorkeeper to ask whether anybody had brought in my lost book. But before I could ask him I already noticed the book on his table. How huge was my relief!