I was very happy when I found out that Eland Publishing House decided to publish a new book by my favorite author Nicolas Bouvier. It is titled The Scorpion – Fish and I read it two days after Eland sent it to me. A very different book from the other Bouvier’s one but immensely fascinating. As we all well remember, Bouvier published his first book titled The Way of the World telling a story of a long journey taken with his friend Thierry Vernet by a small Fiat Topolino in early 50s last century. This book is a breathtaking adventurous story full of delight with ordinary people and love towards ethnic music. Right after reaching India Bouvier settled in Ceylon (Sri Lanka nowadays) for about 9 months. He published his memories years after his stay on Ceylon but at the time of writing them he was tired with an overwhelming epic journey he took and found himself deep in troubles. Ceylon was probably not the best place for a holiday: excessively warm took his turn on Bouvier from the first day. He summarized later that the main task to all people living on Ceylon is doing nothing just to survive another day until dark. He found the whole island draining and very hard to understand. Lonely, poor and sick he found it difficult to deal with everyday life. In such circumstances he was still able to produce a high quality articles about his recent travel through Middle East, published it in a prestigious journal from Colombo and got the money earned to escape to Japan immediately. When he finally left Ceylon he wrote very clearly: I stayed here for 9 months, and about 8 months too long. The whole book is like Ceylonese air: thick, intense and heavy. The author finds it difficult to distinguish reality from his dreams. In order not to get mad for most of the time Bouvier contemplates bug’s live. Local bugs of all sizes and shapes is a case study with lots of similarities to human social live. With some brakes for a short conversation with landlord or an owner of a local shop Bouvier admire perfect organization of insects’ world. At the same time this is a fascinating journey deep into his own soul, with disturbing letter from his mother, a wedding invitation from ex-girlfriend and so much more! Just recently I had enormous pleasure to talk to Nicolas Bouvier translator: Robyn Marsack. This exceptional lady translated The Scorpion Fish from french. Our conversation was delightful! She shared some of her memories with me and I got known she met Bouvier personally and that he supervised the translation process! What a blast! I will share more on Robyn’s work in early 2015 with you so stay with me! For all Bouvier’s literature fans this book is a must read! I enjoyed it immensely and I am sure I will get back to it every now and then…  

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So, I’m leaving to Athens tomorrow and here is something I would like to share with you before I go: my guest post published by Tbex. This is a short review of a recently read book by John Lucas titled: ’92 Acharnon Street. A year in Athens‘. It is special for number of reasons, one of which is the author’s academic background I share. It made really easy to feel just like him. Then, it is about Athens I have never been to but that’s I’m soon visiting (literally tomorrow). There is no better way to prepare yourself to a trip than read a book about it. And also because Greece described by Lucas has changed so much! And you know me – getting closer to history like this sounds almost like magic! So hopefully you’ll find this Eland published book appealing. Just like I did!  

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It’s the middle of the summer and a book like this is far from any holiday literature. It’s not light. It’s not optimistic. But it’s worthy to read. By all means! Here is my review with few details to encourage you to read it. Reading it is a real travel: back in time and space.  The Trouble I’ve Seen Few weeks ago I finished reading another book sent by Eland Publishing House. This time it was a book written by Martha Gellhorn and it is titled: “The Trouble I’ve Seen” (first published in 1936). The book tells four unrelated stories of people who survived Great Depression in the US in the 30. of the twentieth century. What is most important about this book is that despite describing authentic way of life in these horrible times it is actually fiction. Perhaps I am spoiled by the travel literature that is considered non-fiction but it changed my reception of this book. Despair All four stories are tragic. The leading characters are people who found themselves in a very difficult position due to financial crisis that hit the country. We have portraits of old and young people who were struggling with their everyday life and they lost their battles. Unemployed, hungry, homeless and desperate. The author is cruel and her description is very clear about hardship of their lives. Excellent description of cold in winter and extreme hot in summer or tiredness of employers was so good I could have imagined all poor houses and burnt field described by the author and felt sorry for the people who experienced it. Poverty Although the book tells stories from this particular moment of the American history the characters are pretty universal. What is most striking about their situation is shame and distaste towards support provided by the government. It is true for all and at all times. People prefer to earn their money rather than just get them. The relief received in a dead end situations of starvation crushes their sense of being a decent person. It strips off their dignity and left them powerless. There is no hope in this book. Not even a small ray. Worst case scenario Because Gellhorn writing is so good and so convincing a reader suffers together with leading characters. And going through pages of this book, one after another, you sink into this atmosphere of an overwhelming disaster. By the time you finish the book you feel tired with these stories. And you are ready to protest against any poverty or war on earth. So no one would be in a situation described by the author. Heartbreaking The last story in a book focused on Ruby – a young teenager – was too difficult to read. Although I finished reading the last chapter this was a tough one. The truth is that we are able to understand the difficulties of adults, their anger and despair, but harming innocent kids is something we cannot pass by. The clash of innocence with brutality of life was simply unbearable. And it left me very troubled.  

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