Auschwitz by Frediano Sessi

 Frediano Sessi is an authority on books about Auschwitz; he is clear, concise, at the same time he is plenty of stories, anecdotes. He has written for remembering what it was, for remembering the atrocities committed by german Nazis and for remembering the place, Auschwitz and people spent years there. In this latest work published by Marsilio, Auschwitz,

Storia e Memorie Sessi tells what it was Auschwitz, how and why, forst of all the camp was created. Not only: the birth of Birkenau, differentiations, love stories lived by prisoners where possible, languages spoken in the camp, buildings, works done by prisoners, methods for eliminating prisoners. Gas chambers with Zyklon B, the most known one, prisoners previously were examined, and nazis removed gold teeeth, rings etc before to starting these "showers".  Death reached prisoners also because of malnutrition. Located close to the city, Auschwitz became with the time and after the last World War Conflict the symbol of the Nazi horror.

Everything could be useful to Germans; from hair to jewels, once the camp was set free, what allied discovered was a shocking reality.

With the time and decades digging for the most diversified reasons, people found out written material of several prisoners about their existence in the camp. Sometimes these prisoners didn't survive.

Analyzed also the percentage of people closed to Auschwitz per country. The country with more deported was Ungheria with 437.685; then Polland, France. Italy deported 7.827 souls. Norwegian 690.

When I interviewed Lee Staub a Jew from Ukraine, deported to Auschwitz, I asked him if it was possible to escape away from that camp. I won't never forget his expression; it was as if he was seeing again the camp, if he was still there; he said me, just with a whisper of his voice: "Trust me, it was impossible to do that" with sadness and resignation. 

Yes, it was and who tried to do that as Mala Zimetbaum and Edeck Galinski who run away from the camp of Birkenau were captured, tortured; for not being killed by Nazis, they both tried to kill themselves without success.

Someone tried and this time with success! 

The story of Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska is beautiful. They escaped away, they won! saving their existences and re-meeting each other only 39 years after that courageous gesture. 

When Nazis understood that they would have lost the war, tried to eliminate part of the physical evidencies of their horror, although prisoners busy in this work will sabotage in various different ways the purpose of Nazis for let see to the allies of seeing what it was going on in the camps.

Trying to evacuate the camp the most robut prisoners were constricted to march somewhere else with Nazis. While Primo Levi was forced to stay in the camp because as many other people sick, his best mate could go; anyway  these marches in the profound cold and heavy snow meant for most of these people a certain death.

Once the camp was set free, departments in the past devoted to horrors of various genres became places where people could heal from physical and psychological wounds.

Reunions with families and places of origin took place after a lot of months.

Auschwitz became a museum where it is possible to go for understand what happened during the last Second World War.

From books to movies, memory of what has been has always been a priority, and many physical witnesses spread the word not just for not forget, it would be impossible, but for avoid another horror like this one.

Highly recommended to everyone!

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Tuesdays with Morrie An old Man, A Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom

 I was putting in order some books days ago, bringing some of them to the charity shop when I re-discovered Tuesdays with Morri

e An old Man, A Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom. I bought Tuesdays with Morrie at the empirium located in Umbertide, Books for Dogs, some months ago and I remember the sensation when I firstly touched it: that Mark 8/03, the previous owner of this book was a wonderful person and that he loved this book, exactly as I do and I will keep here forever!

I always buy a large amount of books everytime I go to the emporium and most of them are then put in the immense list to-be-read-later.

It's what happened with this magical self-help book.

Words for describing it? 

It's amazing. 

This story is amazing. 

Morrie Schwartz beloved universitarian teacher fell sick with ASL in 1994. He was surprised to discover that he was affected by this horrible illness still degenerative, still incredibly mortal, still without a definitive cure. 

He was surprised, Morrie, although some things were not anymore going on well; he loved dancing and he stopped dancing and he wasn't exactly fine when he decided to discover what was wrong in him. 

But this...

Morrie was the most generous, kind, compassionate spirit you could meet, always available for everyone. 

Who talked with him received immediately his generous, genuine attention. Morrie was a person in love with people and appreciated the discovery of new souls with which interacting with. 

Everyone who spent some time with him was lucky, because Morrie had wonderful advices to share, good and wise words were pronounced by him and was a great listener and...answerer. 

He understood the real meaning of the existence when he was fine and he really enjoyed the ride: when, unfortunately, fell sick  and he needed to wait for the arrival of death he decided to fight: he didn't want to arrive unprepared to death, a step common to all men;  he didn't want to leave this life with the desperation of someone scared of his condition and at the same time, scared of passing away. He wanted with all himself to present to the rest of humanity his joy of living, telling them the real meaning of the existence; according to him and according to what learned day by day on this Earth.

It is not just the story of Morrie this one, wonderfully told in the Boston Globe in an article called: A Professor's Final Course: His Own Death that launched the story of this teacher in a moving article, but also the beautiful tale of a friendship: the one of Mitch, ex Morrie's student, reporter and writer of this book with mr. Schwartz.

Morrie, as writes Mitch was an unforgettable friend and human being; in the final path of his existence Mitch will meet every tuesday his old dear teacher discussing with him about the most profound meanings of life. It is also the story of a professor and a student. I thought at the luck of Albom: at a certain point Mitch asks to the reader if his readers have had teachers who made the difference in their existence; someone who changed their students in better, as Morrie Schwartz did with him. No, unfortunately no. The opposite.

Mitch studied in Massachusetts at Brandeis University and one of his most beloved teacher was Morrie, Morrie Schwartz. Once graduated the idea of staying in connection with his ex-teacher was strong but then life absorbed, tremendously absorbed Mitch Albom and so he simply forgot of staying in touch with his teacher. He thought of him, sometimes, he remembered the nice professor he had introduced to his parents the day of his graduation but, simply, his professor was incapsulated in that portion of his existence, defined by a specific time, classified like past, so he didn't stay in touch.

The interest of Mitch for his old professor returned to be felt and real when he watched Nightline: Mitch re-discovered his teacher again, more old and although still young for the parameters of our society in the final phase of his existence; Albom didn't lose time and contacted his teacher.

Tuesday has always been a magical day for Morrie. Morrie received every tuesday; Morrie taught tuesday; the final lessons about life, death and what there is in the middle, in the between, in the existence of a man, every tuesday. 

And, a casualty? The funeral of Mitch was celebrated in Tuesday. "You'll Talk, I will listen" said Morrie one day to him. They continued a silent dialogue.

Some example of what you will find in the book. 

Morrie thought that it is important to settle down, having a family, because it means company. Morrie said: "If you don't have the support of and love and caring and concern that you have a family you don't have much at all...As our great poet Audern said, "Love each other or perish."

Family means also someone "Whom you know has an eye on you, is watching you the whole time."

Morrie thought that power or a big amount of money couldn't make him more happy or cheerful considering his condition; considering that he was dying.  To him making money was part of the current culture. For fear of losing job. Morrie thought that certain guidelines of the society could be appreciated. No one will go around naked but the big things, "How we think, what we value...You can't let anyone or - or any society - determine those for you."

Morrie thought that everytime we are in company of someone we should be there for him/her: "I believe in being fully present. That means you should be with the person you're with."

Married for 44 years Morrie didn't have a great considerations of newest generations regarding possible relationships, although he remarked that a solid marriage and union is important where not crucial. 

"You ge tested. You found out who you are, who the other person is and how you accomodate or not."

In his gravestone he thought that the best epitaph could be A Teacher to the Last. 

Beautiful! If you haven't read yet, do that!

Anna Maria Polidori 

If you're in a Dogfight Become a Cat Strategies for Long-Term Growth by Leonard Sherman

 If you're in a Dogfigth Become a Cat

Strategies for Long-Term Growth by Leonard Sherman is an important book by Columbia Business School if you started a business but you don't see a lot of profit, if you plan to do that, because it will help you a lot. 

Thanks to examples taken by the most important corporate, from Amazon to Johnson & Johnson, for naming two of them, you will discover how to increase your success, keeping energetic your workplace. Not all business are equals. For example Amazon understood something crucial: they needed to capture as many customers as possible but also, these customers had to stay loyal forever.

Sometimes, writes Sherman, market more than producing different things in grade to make the difference, present us a lof of replicas and customers are lost in supermarkets per hours chosing what they need. 

Originality and a different approach to market can means the difference. 

So, Sherman analyzes... socks. They are boring, and people won't never fall in love for an article like this one, but keeping it interesting, colored, stunningly different, offering more than a pair of socks,differently colored, people can fall in love for them buying that article with more joy and satisfaction.

Wine is not a lot consumed by Americans and American brands didn't have a great success. An Australian brand, thanks to an operation of marketing, in grade to keep the product recognizable in the miriads of other wines that could be seen in American stores, won the US market.

But which are the winning strategies for a continuous growth? Surely treating very well all workers of a corporation, from the first to the latest one, but also, when there is sufficient success, reinvesting in new products, delivering superior customer service. "A good corporation provide jobs, tax revenue and philantropic contribution to the communities in which operate" writes Sherman.

Speaking of large numbers Sherman analyzed the situation of Apple and its future, maybe less competitive than not the one created during the past two decades making a comparison with Amazon and seeing the differences of these corporations and their appraches and choices made for going on.

The pyramid for a certain success can be this one: at the top tactics, then strategy, objectives, and goals.

But...Sure there are brands that make the difference in the market. Brands that, although many other ones could appear to the horizon wouldn't in grade to replace the ones loved so badly. 

It's the case of Nutella, Louis Vuitton  and many other brands chosen for the certainty of the product and the goodness of it.

Plus a consumer when sees a strong brand, musn't search anymore for something else; he/she knows he/she can trust it, buying without difficulty or losing too much time.

Sure, who maintain a brand like this one must be creative, innovative, always surprising, so that consumers will always be stimulated where possible, in buying the products they love a lot from a lifetime.

A consumer of Apple would say that the brand help him to express himself as he wants; the one of Nutella would remakrs that he tried a lot of other brands but that he would continue to choose nutella. Why? "I have been eating Nutella since I was a very young child. It has always meant to me both a memory of my childhood and a fundamental component of my breakfast before doing sport activities."

Interesting the fight of Coke versus Pepsi.co. When Pepsi was born, changing the cards on the table started to be appreciated much more, and Coke tried its best for bettering their secret formula...

Another rampant example the one of Samsung versus Apple, absolutely the biggest competitor.

Where do Great Ideas Come From?  takes in consideration the birth of Post-It Notes as a national and later international reality, but also the errors commited by Walmart the biggest supermarket chains of the USA.

This one is an amazing book! if you love business, but also, to my point of view, if you want to discover much more about the corporation that are moving this old world, the ones that, in general we put with more enthusiasm in our tables, like Coke or Nutella, or we do use in a daily base, as smartphones, cars, post-it notes etc.

Highly recommended.

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

Anna Maria Polidori 

Le Sorgenti del Sogno by Vittorino Andreoli

 Le Sorgenti del Sogno by Vittorino Andreoli famous italian psychiatrist traces in this book a fascinating trip starting into the dreams. What is a dream, where it starts? Is it different our state of conscience, common for everyone when we are awaken from the one of the sleeping state?

Not much. It is true that there are many differences, remarks the psychiatrist. We won't never try to hug someone if we are dreaming that we are, and if we walk, during a dream, we do that staying in horizontal position. The various phases of sleeping are two the phase REM and non-REM. If the first one is the sleeping without traces of dreams, the non-REM is the phase of eyes movements, where, in particular when it is done an EEG, a patient, awoken can remembers probably the dream that he was making.

Old age means a sort of curiosity for what it is done and it is true. I know people that said me to them what done previously in the other stages of the existence was absolutely surprizing.

If removing bad experience is an action of the mind for trying to avoid that that bad stress can stress too much the person, this memory could return or thanks a psychiatrist, or also seeing similar experiences lived by other people later. 

I read in various books that when we die the first one to go is the brain our computer. No: Vittorino Andreoli disagrees. The end of our pc is not so immediate and not in all the portion of the brain, so that, to Andreoli, a person, although dead, so, technically a corpse can perceives what it is going on around him for a lot of time.

What it reads the brain is the EEG althogh Andreoli tells us that, yes as a tool this one is remarkably important, although the reading is superficial, letting us also discovering the two emispheres and what they are important for.

Desires are another espect of the oniric phase and not only; the final chapter it's about oblivion.

My dreams:  I want to share with you two recent ones.

In the first one I dreamt a cousin disappeared abruptly. She returned as a teacher, wearing the same clothes she had when she was buried, and the classroom was special becaus  located in the cemetery of our countryside. 

Children, happy and cheerful, were sat in desks close to the various graves, some positioned also on graves. I remember that we spotted this cousin. I said her hi! Welcome back, while my mother said her to return where she was living now.

So my cousin infuriated took a tan of gasoline and rushed in the direction of the church with the intention of burning it. We avoided it. 

When I got up, it was a beautiful sunday day and there was the mass. When I arrived I saw the other member of the parish outside looking at something. A little portion of wood fell down from the main door that night! 

In the other one, I desired to go to Paris and electrified to see that city! when my niece asked me if she could join me with the husband. I would have wanted to visit Paris all alone but it was fine. We also brought with us my father, disappeared more than 3 years ago. Once arrived to Paris my desire was to start to visiting the city, but my niece suggested to call a relative living close to Paris. I said her that yes, it could be an idea, but we would have procrastinated our visit, and the day was incredibly sunny. I anyway accepted and well we found an enthusiastic relative. He welcomed us with all honors, offering us eating and drinking and asking to the wife and daughter to prepare us a great lunch. In the while my father fell sick and we called an ambulance. He was brought at a parisianne hospital while the daughter of this relative remarked I consumed too much water. She was also upset because she had to prepare the lunch. I decided to booking for my father a flight that same day; but in doing this I forgot the rest of us; flights would have left Paris in different times: then the relative convinced me: your father is sick he can't leave the hospital for now...

Highly recommended.

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

La Verite sur L'Affaire Harry Quebert by Joel Dicker

La Verite sur L'Affaire Harry Quebert is a book by

Joel Dicker, published by Editions Fallois. 

I thought I wanted to return to reading in french but I didn't know where or who to start with. I decided that, having previously read Il Libro dei Baltimore, and having fell in love for that characters, I could sufficiently trust Joel Dicker, because his books are incredibly...moving. Plus, there is respect for all generations; the positive exaltation of old people, in general the central characters, in this one Harry Quebert, in Il Libro dei Baltimore (a masterpiece!)  Saul Goldman, and lessons that they can teach to the youngest ones are remarkably important.

 

This first book is another good surprise for sure. I met along the way this book at the post office, supermarkets, bookshops but for a reason or another I hadn't never bought it although I felt a profound and genuine attraction. At the end I decided for a french copy. So: who want to improve his/her french this one is the best book that you can meet along your way, because the language is plain and terminology not difficult. 

I personally found the reading much more simple than not the ones of my first english books, close to nightmares in some cases lol. But, seven years of french at school was helpful because the brain realistically doesn't forget anything. My idea was writing the review in french but I guess I must wait another bit. The putting together thoughts is still a lazy process. 

Marcus Goldman is a successful writer, ecrivain en francais, but with the block of the writer. If his first book meant mundanity, beautiful girls, success, fame, the second one became soon a torture. Marcus doesn't have any clue regarding what to write next.

Pity that there is a contract signed with heavy penalties in case the writer can't present any result to the publishing house. 

What to do? Once he speaks with his old professor of the University, Harry Quebert, a man who became famous because of a book Marcus adores. Still in touch with him, Harry suggest to Marcus his house and the peace and tranquillity of Aurora, a little city in the East Coast of the USA. 

Marcus accepts with great joy the possibility of relaxing his mind and at the same time searching for inspiration.

Once in the house of Harry, searching in Harry's writings Marcus discovers something...

Returned home, Harry call him one day (as will do Saul Goldman in Il Libro dei Baltimore) telling him that Nola was dead; they had found her tests, bones, in his garden, with another body and a sac where, inside, there was a copy of Harry's masterpiece.

Marcus rush immediately in Aurora decided of helping his old friend. Everyone else think that he is crazy. Someone, worried, will ask if, for case, he is homosexual. Marcus smiles and insists: a friend need my help.

But now: who is Nola?

1975: Nola is the daughter of a priest mr. Kellergan arrived from Alabama. She works in a café where in general goes Harry Quebert; the owner is a certain Tamara. Her daughter is Jenny, at the moment married with Travis...

The arrival of monsieur Quebert in Aurora meant to the people of the little town a lot of expectations: single, handsome man, surely with a good position couples with post teenage girls were attracted by this man.

Harry considered the house and the city absolutely beautiful. Plus, if in New York he was a common citizen, in Aurora became a sort of star.

Two girls fell in love for him: Nola, 15 years and Jenny in her 20s, the second one courted for hiding the love Harry proved for Nola. Nola didn't have a lot of psychological stability, she will try to commit suicide, she suffered of other disturbs...Other people will enter in the book as important pieces of this puzzles. 

But, for sure Nola was the biggest love of Harry Quebert. He continued to live remembering her. 

Police, anyway, without too much romanticism put immediately in jail Harry, because simply, it was too simple, but the story behind this murder has been absolutely more complicated. 

Nothing in this story was real and the same Harry was hiding something crucial to Marcus: he had stolen the book he became famous with, written by another person;  Luther simply wanted to meet the big writer for some advices (sic!)

"Vous n'avez pas écrit le livre qui a fait de vous un ecrivain célébre! ....Vous avez volé un livre! Quel plus grand crime peut commetre un écrivain?" said to Harry Marcus, pretty deluded at a certain point.

The publishing house, desperate for the choices recently made by Marcus, who was abandoning his project of writing the book for investigating this "cold case" will ask him something about "l'affaire Harry Quebert". If, at first, Marcus is skeptical, then his professor will confess him in a dramatic meeting that after all he became famous because he stole something, while Marcus is a genuine writer and will be in grade to produce the truth, and Harry adds that he musn't avoid anything. 

Including his fraud.

It is beauty when, at a certain point there will be a lot of meetings with the various departments of the publishing house, for names that need to be added in the book (and the ones avoided) pictures, cover, etc. It was as in that moment I spied what there is behind the creation of a book and I found it fascinating.

Like in Il Libro dei Baltimore, written later, Harry will ask, as did Saul Goldman to Marcus, of telling the story because truth must be revealed.

Once you read the books by Joel Dicker, that characters, their spirit will remain with you always.

I consider a bit childish the character of Harry Quebert, when he frantically wrote per hours NOLA NOLA NOLA in his journal/notebook at the café. I thought that while everything else thought that he was writing profound thoughts, he was just lost writing continuously a name. I found it hilarious. 

I love the character of Marcus Goldman. He is terrific, simply enchanting, devoted to friends, a boy of good and great heart, with a heart opened and a mind focused in the most important values of the existence. That's what makes this character so superlative. 

Highly recommended.

Anna Maria Polidori 

George's Marvellous Medicine written by Roald Dahl and Illustrated by Quentin Blake

 It was very warm last night; I love these very warm nights because I can get up doing something different in the silent night; I went downstairs searching for some fresh air. 

I went to the library located in the living room, the biggest one, searching for a brief book to read in the while. 

Something I had started and maybe left in the middle of reading. 

I spotted George's

Marvellous Medicine written by Roald Dahl and Illustrated by Quentin Blake. I thought that this children's book could be a nice reading for sure. 

I completed it pretty soon. The story the one of George and his disgusting granny. 

That granny was absurdly dispotic and poor little Goerge didn't know anymore how to make her granny happy. She was a real general! complaining for everything. 

Thinking that his existence that days became a sort of nightmare, the only imagine he could picture in his mind was only one: revenge.

Oh; he didn't want, no, to kill his granny, but he wanted to give her a lesson, after all that lady was horrible! 

What to do, so, for realizing his dream? George took a saucepan and then went in the various rooms of his house, picking up and putting into it, everything: they could be lipsticks, lotions for the most diversified problems etc.

Then, Goerge boiled all that things together and when his granny asked for the medicine he was ready to give it to her.

Her granny changed immediately, becoming at the end a real slim giant; but, pity, that, let's put things in this way, her character didn't change at all!

Once returned home, George's parents noticing what was going on were horrified. 

The father of George tried the lotion also in their farm's animals and they became giants. Seeing the opportunity of business behind all of it, (giants eggs, much more milk etc) asked to George of creating a new lotion but nothing will work properly and as wanted by mr Kranky; what happened at the end will be the dissolution of George's granny, with joy and happiness of all the family.

The lady was unbearable, although the book leaves the reader with a big question: is it possible the elimination of a poor granny because not too wanted?

Dahl specifies that no one should repeat the recipe! of course, but who looked more surprised and silent was little George. Something horrible happened, I think that the departure of that nasty granny  could be classified as a homicide, of course not wanted, but the lady de fact disappeared, so...

Plus, George understood that visited just for some while the land of magic. 

Although, maybe there was a pinch of horror in it.

Anna Maria Polidori  

8i

Kamasutra by Vatsyayanana translated by Cinzia Pieruccini

 Kamasutra by Vatsyayanana translated

by Cinzia Pieruccini is a new book published by Marsilio. 

Largely known as the best essay regarding love-making, and an inspiration for writers, essayists of all the times, this book was released in the III century Before Christ. The author Mallanaga Vatsyayanana had taken the best of the literature released regarding sex, putting down a soum of all of it that it is absolutely fascinating and under many ways, old-fashioned. 

The importance of courting properly, gifts and sexual rituals, passing also through the activity of prostitutes and modality for increasing their business, without forgetting the harem and the general guidelines that were imposed to all the women accepted or invited there.

Sex is incredibly important and it is at the third place in that pyramid of values of the indian society; the first one is spirituality in a word, the second, business and practical existence, and the third one the joys of sex.

Although at that time women lived in a perennial sudditance, you will notice that they are an active and crucial part of the process of court, and later, love-making. Indian men didn't search just for a doll but they wanted someone in grade of satisfying their most hidden desires. Not only: they had to guess what a woman would have appreciated sensually and sexually.

Men could court also married ladies, because it was part of the process of personal growth and changement. 

As you will notice each Indian place had its own way of courting or special positions for the love-making and it could be also pretty different from other parts of the country as well, like also ethically some kind of sex needed to be avoided or anyway not practiced with everyone.

Highly recommended.

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori