I miei libri

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                                        I miei autori preferiti

Andrea De Carlo

Il primo libro di Andrea De Carlo che ho letto e' stato "Di noi tre". Mi ha subito catturata per la vivida descrizione dei personaggi e del loro mondo psicologico. Leggendolo, mi sono veramente immedesimata in Livio, il protagonista e riconosciuta in Misia, la ragazza fulcro del romanzo. Alla fine mi e' dispiaciuto lasciarli.
Anche "Due di due" mi ha fatto lo stesso effetto: lo storia di due amici che devono compiere delle scelte e che crescono e si ritrovano mi e' piaciuta moltissimo. Di "Arcodamore" mi ha affascinato la cruda descrizione dei sentimenti e del loro mutare nello spazio di poco o tanto tempo.
Non mi sono piaciuti "Treno di panna ", "Yucatan" e "Uccelli da gabbia e da voliera".
L'ultimo libro pubblicato "Nel momento" mi e' piaciuto molto nella parte iniziale: la descrizione della scoperta del suo stato di infelicita' assoluta e' veramente illuminante. Mi sembra invece che si sia perso nella seconda parte dove mi e' sembrato piuttosto sconnesso e poi nella fine che non mi e' sembrata sicuramente all'altezza dell'inizio.

Banana Yoshimoto

Anche di Banana Yoshimoto ho letto tutto     quello che e' stato pubblicato. Il primo e' stato "Kitchen" ed il suo modo di scrivere mi e' sembrato bellissimo. Il mio preferito e' comunque "Amrita" che mi ha trasmesso un senso di serenita' e pace che raramente ho ritrovato in altri libri. Di seguito trovate un breve estratto (dalla versione inglese).

Estratto da: Amrita

It didn't take my mother too long to go to work.
As we sat around the dinner table that night, we heard the front door fly open, and my brother stomped into the room. "I'm home," he said. My mother, Junko, and I already started dinner. Seeing my brother enter the kitchen with his black backpack and cutoff shorts, I couldn't help but notice how much he looked like a real kid in elementary school. He looked almost cheerful. There was so much happiness, in fact, that I felt it spreading spreading all the way to my heart.
Yoshio grabbed a plate piled high with fried prawns and munched on them greedily in front of me. It appeared as if nothing unusual happened to him, and I could see that he developed in a good way of stopping things that would try to get inside. At that point, my mother leaned down and started to ask him questions.
"How's your food, Yoshio?" my mother inquired. "Does it taste good? Are your taste buds working properly?"
My brother swallowed and said, "Yeah, it tastes great. Did Aunt Junko fry these prawns?"
"No," I said. "We bought them in the basement of the department store today."
Junko spoke up. "You know, frying is the only type of cooking that I can't do. It's so frightening, throwing those creatures into that boiling pot, practically still alive. Cleaning it up is a pain as well."
Her excuses were inconsistent, but there in the kitchen I was overwhelmed by the impression we created a family circle. The moment reminded me of the scent of an olive flowing through the autumn wind, a faint scent, yet with a presence clearly noticeable. It had been a long time since I smelled it.
"Okay," my mother said, moving in. "More questions. Do you look forward waking up in the morning? Are you happy all day? Do you feel good going to bed every night?"
My brother paused. "I'm not so sure about that. I'm always so tired when I go to bed . . ." He answered the questions promptly, as though he was under some kind of psychological evaluation.
"Now. You are standing on the street and you see a friend coming. Are you happy? Or is it a bother? Look around at the scenery. Does the beauty of nature strike your heart? What about music? How does it sound? Think about a trip overseas. Is that something you'd be interested in? Do you get excited when you think about it? Or is it just another pain in your life?"
My mother stopped. Her voice had resonated like that of a skillful actress in a play, the words floating from her mouth as a soft voice would from a tape used for meditation. I was taken back by her impromptu performance and the situation made me feel awkward. Something told me that if I'd closed my eyes while she was speaking, I would have actually seen a friend of mine approaching, and imagine what it was like to be overseas. Her voice was that clear, that deep.
We sat in silence for a while, each of us earnestly pondering over how we'd have answered the questions.
My mother started up again. "Do you look forward to tomorrow? How about the day after next? What comes to mind when I say 'future'? Does it excite you? Depress you? How do you feel right now? Are things going well? Do you look into the mirror and like what you see?"
My brother turned to my mother and said, "Yeah, I think I'm okay."
Personally, I wasn't so sure.
"I'm not sure," Junko said, taking the words right out of my mouth. "Yukiko, where on earth did you get those questions? Did you find them in a book?"
My mother started to grin. "These questions," she said, looking deep into my brother's eyes, "are the secret formula for lliving that was taught to me by my grandfather when I was about your age, Yoshio. He called them his 'checkpoints for life.'"
"He really used that phrase? He really used the word 'checkpoint'?" I asked, surprised by the modern terminology.
"Well, no," my mother said. "He might have put it differently, but the principle is the same. It actually comes from your great-grandfather. You know who I'm talking about, don't you? My grandpa who ran the traditional Japanese candy shop in the country? Every day he went into the shop to work, and his sweets were so good that people would line up outside the shop for miles. A group came all the way from the north just to buy some once. Grandpa made candy every day of his life until he turned ninety. He was in perfect health, gentle to his wife, children, and grandchildren, and so bright and friendly all the neighbors loved him. After retiring, he lived another five years before he passed away peacefully. Once, when I was a child he gathered us all together, and he asked us these questions, starting with, "Are your taste buds working properly?'" There was also a warning."
"What was that?" my brother asked, completely taken in by my mother's story.

1994 Banana Yoshimoto, English Translation 1997 Russell F. Wasden.

Betrand Russel

Quando mi sento triste e depressa, il modo piu' efficace per ritrovare il buon umore e' prendere in mano il suo "La conquista della felicita'". Dopo aver letto alcune pagine a caso, sono sicura che il motivo della mia tristezza, che spesso nemmeno io riesco ad identificare con sicurezza, e' scomparso o si e' perlomeno, ridimensionato.

Il suo "Storia della filosofia occidentale" e' uno strumento fondamentale, per chiarezza espositiva e linguaggio, per chi, come me, pur non avendo studiato filosofia sui banchi di scuola, ad un certo punto ha voglia di capire cosa e', esattamente, la filosofia e sapere chi sono e cosa dicevano i piu' famosi filosofi, aprtendo dai Greci per arrivare ai nostri giorni.