Les Enfants Oubliee d'Hitler Au Coeur du Program Lebonsborn by Ingrid Von Oelhafen and Tim Tate

 What a moving book is this one: Les Enfants Oubliee d'Hitler Au Coeur du Program Lebonsborn

by Ingrid Von Oelhafen and Tim Tate.

It's a research on an identity long more than 60 years: it's the story of a baby, grown up "thanks" to the program Lebensborn by a rich german family, the one of von Oelhafen.

Born Erika Matko, for certain reasons this girl ended up in the program created by Himmler with the purpose of a quick germanification of people passing through new vigorous arian children. 

It was only later that Erika discovers the truth, and it is shocking because she thought that she was part of the von Oelhafen, exactly like her brother... 

His father, the adoptive one was a hard person. Her adoptive mother had left him and had had another baby with a new man: the mother of Ingrid decides that she must interrupt her studies. She wants to leave her in fact her activity in the kinesitherapy field. Although skeptical, Ingrid will continue the activity of her mother, starting, after her departure the researches of her real origins. It won't be simple but also thanks to meetings with the ex children of the program Lebensborn, she won't give up, discovering the truth at the end.

The centrality of this book is the meaning of identity. Is it just a story of blood? No: it is not, as remarks Ingrid. It's something different: a chemical encounter with people met along her way during the childhood and that marked her existence. 

This book is particularly detailed regarding what it meant the end of the last world war conflict and the assets of the new order; Ingrid won't avoid to tell the atrocities committed by several soldiers of different States on civilians.

It is described pretty well her existence, a good one, the one of her family, and the years immediately after the world war conflict including her relationship with the several members of the von Oelhafen family.

Considering where we are at the moment, with a new conflict in the heart of Europe, the words of Ingrid resonates prophetics: the author writes that this book has been written in a moment of great hostility between several nations, religions. But it is in that countries where there was the rideau de fer, as writes Ingrid, that there is more nationalism, where it is more researched a racial superiority or a historical superiority. "Jamais, depuis 1945, le continent - et,au-delà le monde - n'a été si dangereusement divisé" adds Ingrid ending with a sad idea:  the lesson of History is that people won't learn the lesson of History. 

Highly recommended book.

I thank Fayard for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Jean-Blaise Le Chat Qui se ne Prenait Pour un Oiseau by Emilie Boré & Vincent

 Jean-Blaise Le Chat Qui se ne Prenait Pour un Oiseau

by Emilie Boré & Vincent is an interesting new children's book published by La Joie de Lire.

Important thematic, this one: the knowledge of different temperaments, characters, inclinations that sometimes children experience.

The message  passes through a so cute, tender story: the one of Jean-Blaise. Jean-Blaise is a curious, confused cat: apparently he is like  the other cats you meet along your way: you wouldn'r say that he is different at all. 

Just...He doesn't like to be a cat. He thinks that he is a bird and he acts like a bird. Yes, you read well: Jean-Blaise doesn't just admire birds: he thinks that he is one of them. 

And what can he does? 

He must prove that he is a bird, and not a cat. 

His existence starts to be singular with a lot of funny episodes. 

Birds, at the same time, searched and appreciated by Jean-Blaise can't recognize him as a member of their clan because he is a cat. They try to let him see that he is different: that he is not a bird and that he should accept his being a....cat! It's beauty to be a cat.

Jean-Blaise is stubborn and so tries to fly once, falling after few seconds. 

Jean-Blaise won't never be a bird? Depressed, one day, strolling along a street, Jean-Blaise  notices a beautiful house. The one of a psychologist.

The psychologist is curious regarding this cat and pretty soon discovers his problem.

The psychologist explains him that he is born cat, but also that he has several people thinking that they are Napoleon: that maybe he has the character of a bird. Will he stay with him? He would live as he prefers.

Being happy now, sometimes Jean-Blaise will remember to be also a cat with his new owner. 

A beautiful album on self-acceptance! for everyone.

Emilé Boré is author of other two book for children, while Vincent, the illustrator has had an important experience in a satiric journal called Vigousse and collaborates with the daily magazine Le Courrier. 

Highly recommended.

I thank L'Editions La Joie de Lire for the physical copy of the album.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Time Travelling to 1972 Reliving a very Special Year

 Time Travelling to 1972 Reliving a very Special Year

is a book sent me thanks to Library Book. It is sunny, relaxing.

We are in the USA and we discover an amazing historical moment.

Many the facts happened that year... You will discover like, for example that Ceylon becomes the Republic of Sri Lanka or that Okinawa Returned to Japan: in the USA Governor George C Wallace is shot remainging paralyzed. 

There is a new car everyone loves: the new one proposed by Volkwagen: Beetle! The most-Sold car in History. Disney will realize several movies with this car! All beloved ones.

UNESCO launches the World Heritage Site: we assist at the birth of the first hand-held scientific calculator created by Helett-Packard. 

It was an incredible year for movies: The Godfather earned wagons of money, but also Last Tango in Paris was another crucial movie of the year. 

Chaplin received a prize at the Academy Award and it was a 12 minute standing ovation still the longest one in the history of the Academy.

Best Foreign Language Film was the italian movie The Garden of the Finzi-Continis ,

directed by Vittorio de Sica.

At the Berlin Film Festival the Golden Bear went to the The Canterbury Tales , directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, a co-production Italy/France. 

A new tv series is appreciated: M*A*S*H* 

Many many more curiosities in a book pretty informative!

Highly recommended. 

I thank the publishing house for the copy.

Anna Maria Polidori 

La Grande Zelda by Pier Luigi Razzano

 Spectacular, unique, absorbing. This one is La Grande Zelda

by Pier Luigi Razzano. This book on Zelda Sayre, later wife of Francis Scott Fitzgerald is incredible. You'll love it so badly as I did and I do. Oh, the Fitzgeralds... This couple created the Jazz Age: both trendy, they defined a new society, more free, plenty of excesses, where parties, feasts, alcohol, the main reason of living. 

Freedom, escapism passing through champagne and tons of gin, drunk everywhere, in company, alone; and then discussions, tensions and a lot of love. This couple was under many ways self-destructive, but no one could live without the idea and presence of the other one. Zelda tried, experimenting women and then men, but she always returned home.

A beautiful Belle born in the profound South of the USA, Zelda has been since little an eccentric girl: she wanted to be the main attraction of events, the princess of every feast, the animator of a party, and she wanted to dance, because dancing means setting us free from our demons and it is catartic.

Written hearing the voice of Zelda, in a strong, and powerful consciousness stream, this book will make the difference. The years spent to the hospitals, the birth of Scottie, the abortion, the trips to Italy considered by the couple a very poor and unattractive place, but also Rome and Ben Hur, Capri and the fascism, the lesbian ladies, the discovery of painting.

Riviera with the Murphys and the beautiful pilot with which Zelda wanted to escape away. Away from Scott.

Montgomery, her family, her friends but also parties and her jealousy, her betrayal with a fisher, and then with a friend of Scott in a car.

New York, Paris, Hemingway and again the jealousy of Zelda; she didn't like Hemingway, she didn't like that Francis spent a lot of time with him.

We see closely the creative process in Francis Scott's mind, but also the involvement of Zelda, her suggestions.

Scottie, their daughter, grown up in a place populated by adults sometimes too erratic and violent with themselves and their partner.

An intimate portrait of a life lived with all the possible excesses you can think at, but after all...Isn't it this one the existence of every creative?

Francis Scott loved of an immense love Zelda. I want to close with this quote: "Zelda....voglio continuare a immaginarti e aprire gli occhi per ritrovarti lì mentre sposti il mondo per far iniziare l'amore."

The author in the final page thank also Zelda, Scott and Scottie, writing that they are his second family. Well, it is true. This book has been written with extreme feeling, and I love it so badly! 

I hope that it will be translated as soon as possible in english and french! It deserves it!

Highly recommended.

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Finché il Caffé è Caldo by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Forty reprints: two years from the first print, and till on the top of the italian books list.

A wonderful, suggestive best-seller.

The best choice for these difficult times, this little, I would add, shy book, tender, soft, but extremely friendly, with a relaxing cover, where cherries are blooming and a comfy table reassure that situations will be resolved once and for all, written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Finché il Caffé è Caldo

, is a promise of a good, fantastic reading.

There is in Tokyo, a little café, immersed in the anonymity, where there are several, well defined characters, serving good, delicious food and an extraordinary coffee to their beloved and affectionated customers. It's not important if you visit the café in winter or in a warm summer day, because you will discover that the atmosphere is always fresh, and the place reassuring.

The owner of the café, Nagare, is married with Kei, a frail pregnant girl: another worker is Kazu. 

The specialty of this little café is that people can surf in the past or in the future thanks to a special coffeepot, used for serving in a cup common coffee. People in this special café can ask for time-travels through the past or the future, if they request it.

When and why people do search for time-travels in this special café? They try to see if they can discover more of the behavior of a person: another time they want to see their beloved ones when still in healthy conditions, or just, to meet someone who, for a reason or another, they, simply, won't never meet in their existence, or they know that they won't meet anymore at long in this life.

The rules of the café are simples: there is just a little table and chair for this magical ritual where is sat a phantom that it is better to leave alone; you must sit, waiting that the coffee would be served. You must choose a precise moment of your existence that you want to re-live again; the person that you search must be a client of the café, and last rule, the most important one for not to be transformed in a ghost, you must drink the coffe till when warm.

These four stories are moving. There is a lady who waits for answers regarding the health of his husband and a letter...

There is a mother who wants to see the daughter. An experience that she won't never live in her existence...

There is a girl who is left by her beloved boyfriend. Maybe she has been too rude with him: she wants to try to understand much better what happened when a week before they had that last, tragic discussion...

Maybe with the one of the mother and the daughter, the story more moving is the one of the two sisters. 

These stories are precious because they pass through knowledge, true, but also, in several cases, clarifications. Sometimes when we speak with other people we don't tell what we want to tell, or just we don't understand well what the other want to tell us. It's a lesson: let's keep open our hearts to the magic of life, to the understanding, to an interpretation of the existence that shouldn't never be an unilateral path, but a path shared with others with clarity. In this way existences will be brilliants, sparkling, singing great harmonic melodies to the universe.

Highly recommended. 

Grazie Grzanti for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

 

Why The Titanic Was Doomed A Disaster Of Circumstance by Bryan Jackson

 Why The Titanic Was Doomed A Disaster Of Circumstance by Bryan Jackson

is one of the best books ever written on the disappearing of this big ship: quick, concise, but at the same time incredibly, incredibly informative.

So, if you love the romantic and tragic story of the birth and death of this Titan of the Sea, updated,  this book is, for sure, for you.

That the Titanic was born for sinking in that first inaugural trip was more than a sign of the destiny: problems started during the building of the ship, because some parts didn't have great quality, after all: let's add that sad coincidences played a fundamental role and did not permit to people to see the reality of the facts: presence of icebergs. Everyone in that inaugural trip was galvanized by the beauty of the ship, the atmosphere of feast, excitement, and dreams that every passenger had put in that trip. People of the second and third class dreamed a best existence once arrived in the USA. People of the first class were stunningly happy of sharing their days with original, other creative people in such an exclusive place like the Titanic was. 

It was called the Unsinkable, but the Titanic disappeared during his first trip in the cold Atlantic the night of 14 april 1914: A Night to Remember, would have written later Walter Lord.

A catastroph. Just a little bunch of people saved their existence. 

The Titanic left Southampton, and after several other european ports where she embarked other people, left for NYC.

Why many people died?

 

A sad choice, for aesthetic reasons, involved a great limitation in the numbers of life boats  "inserted" in the Titanic: the Titanic had to be a beautiful place for the rich passengers of this giant and nothing had to ruin the aesthetic of that beautiful ship. Pity that the large amount of missing life boats meant the end for more than 1550 passengers. 

The wireless room

There was a wireless room where it was installed one of the most modern intrument morse created by Guglielmo Marconi. The operator, Jack Phillips received many messages during that first and final days of navigation where it was clear that every ship spotted several importatnt icebergs. For a lot of reasons these alerts were not taken in the sufficient alarmistic consideration, and mr.Smith, the captain, this one would have been his final trip, and it was but in a different way, continued to keep the Titanic at its highest velocity.   

Phillips knew the exact location of the iceberg that later would have destroyed the ship: he had  also forwarded the message to other ships. The day before the sinking of the Titanic, the wireless set malfunction and stopped operating. Passengers once fixed the radio wireless inundated the room with radio messages to their families, colleagues, friends. 

There was a ship very close to the Titanic, the 447-foot Californian: the captain the evening of the 14 april had decided to stop the ship for the night because they had spotted several icebergs and navigation appeared unsecure enough. 

Captain Lord had noticed some lights, apparently the ones of another ship, but who knows: maybe it was a star.

Captain Lord asked to Cyril Evans in their wireless room later if there was for case any ship close to them: Cyril knew very well that the Titanic was close to them. Lord asked to Cyril to send a message alerting the Titanic of the massive presence of icebergs.

The close distance generated signals very strong so Jack Phillips told to Cyril rudely: "Shut up, shut up! I am busy; I am working Cape Race!" Cyril won't alert anymore the Titanic. 

The last contact generated by the two ships ar circa 11:33. At 11:40 Titanic hit the iceberg. The Titanic soon would have sent messages of help to all the available ships. Pity that Cyril Evans was sleeping.

The Californian later saw a flash on the horizon. It was 12:45. Stone called captain Lord: both were more than sure that it wasn't anything alarming. The radio operator continued to sleep peacefully after having spent a long day of work. 

At 4 o'clock the discovery: the Titanic had sunk and the Carpathia was arriving: it was necessary to rescue and help the 705 survivors. 

A Calm Night

A calm night, moonless, the one of the 14 april 1912. Vision was difficult. The key for the binoculars was left behind, so Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee could just use their eyes for trying to see if there was to the horizon any danger of some sort. When they spotted the iceberg, they were at just 37 seconds from the impact. Also the measures taken to avoid the impact became much more mortals than if the ship would have had a frontal confrontation with the giant of the oceans. 

January 1912 what a Moon!

The moon 4 january 1912 was the closest it had been to Earth in over a thousand years. This aspect, with other astronomical connections, put in movements a lot of icebergs; it is estimated that the iceberg who destroyed the Titanic probably travelled for just 4 months. Areas interested were Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland.  Once damaged, appeared clear that the Titanic had just few hours of life, optimistically. Seawater was flooding in at a rate of about 7 tons per second!!! – fifteen times faster than Titanic’s pumps could dump it back overboard, writes the author.

Panic became incredible when Andrews and other people understood that the two third of passenger would have lost the existence, because there weren't sufficient life-boats.

Later also thanks to the money that the son of Astor promised at the Mackay-Bennet crew, 100.000 dollars, for trying to find the body of his father, 190 bodies, including the one of an infant had been rescued. 

Part of the money Astor donated  (the body of his father was found), covered the cost of the child's funeral. He was called "Our Babe." In 2007 the discovery of the name of the infant: Leslie Goodwin.

The latest one who died was Millvina Dean. Titanic reclaimed also this soul: she died 

exactly ninety-eight years to the day that Titanic had been launched from the Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast. When I read this, (this one was a kid, not a young girl when there was the tragedy) I imagined Rose Dawson, acclaimed by everyone in the Titanic with Jack waiting for her, offering his hand, on the luxurious stairs of the first class. Reunited, forever, with her.

The book offers much more: many witnesses, and technical aspects that decided dramatically for the quick death of the Titanic and most of his passengers, most of them resting at 4.000 meters of profoundity.

Highly recommended book. 

I thank Pen & Sword for the copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori

 

Necropolis by Vladislav Khodasevic

 Necropolis by Vladislav Khodasevic

is a book published by Columbia University Press. 

The beloved russian poet and translator, born in a polish catholic noble family located in Moscow, has decided to write this book that took circa a decade of his existence, from 1920  to the beginning of the '30s for describing some contemporaries writers he knew very well, and that were part of his same literary current: the Symbolism.

All facts reported, as also remarks the author have been verified and known by him and nothing, if not just few things have been reported by second or third hand. 

What I found peculiar is that in every chapter and so portrait of writer or poet taken in consideration, there is substantially the point of view and vision of Vladislav on these writers plenty of anecdots, gossip, as well and whatever you can imagine. Nothing is left behind.

They are not just short biographies seen with the eyes of the writer: this work wants also to explain much better the most profound  meanings of Symbolism. That's also why it is extremely important for historians and scholars.

I have been attracted by this book because I want personally to discover more russian authors and thanks to Khodasevich it has been possible.

Gorky, Petrovskaya, Bely and more, passions, intrigues, gossip, suicides, love-stories ended tragically, this book is this and much more.  Written with extreme simplicity it is for a large public.  

Highly recommended.

I thank Columbia University Press for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori