Posts

Showing posts with the label September 2015

"El Amigo Aleman"/ Der Deutsche Freund/ The German Friend

Image
Argentina, in the middle fifties. Sulamit is the daughter of German-Jewish refugees. Friedrich is the son of German-Nazis refugees. Both children are closely friends as times goes by between the fall of Peron's Government in 1955 and the years of prison, torture and death in Argentina since 1976 to 1983. The children grow up and go to Germany, both get involved in the political struggles of 1968 and Friedrich, who always rejected the Nazi past of his father, becomes a left winged militant and decides to come back to Argentina to fight against the Military Government. The love of Sulamit for Friedrich survives all these years, though he dedicates more time to his political commitments than to his personal feelings. But those two are destined to get together after all these years of separation and disagreements, because their love is more powerful than anything else.        

"Hunting and Gathering" (by Anna Gavalda)

Image
Hunting and Gathering  is a 2004 novel by the French writer  Anna Gavalda . Its original French title is  Ensemble, c'est tout , which means "Together, that's everything". The narrative follows an anorexic young woman who struggles with the neuroses, both of her own and of people around her. The book was adapted into a 2007 film with  the same title , directed by  Claude Berri . Prize-winning author Anna Gavalda has galvanized the literary world with an exquisite genius for storytelling. Here, in her epic new novel of intimate lives-and filled with the "humanity and wit" (Marie Claire) that has made it a bestselling sensation in France-Gavalda explores the twists of fate that connect four people in Paris. Comprised of a starving artist, her shy, aristocratic neighbor, his obnoxious but talented roommate, and a neglected grandmother, this curious, damaged quartet may be hopeless apart, but together, they may just be able to face the world. Anna Gavalda ...