Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Memoirs of a Polar Bear
Memoirs of a Polar Bear | Y?ko Tawada
The Memoirs of a Polar Bearhas in spades what Rivka Galchen hailed in theNew Yorkeras Yoko Tawada s magnificent strangeness Tawada is an author like no other. Three generations (grandmother, mother, son) of polar bears are famous as both circus performers and writers in East Germany: they are polar bears who move in human society, stars of the ring and of the literary world. In chapter one, the grandmother matriarch in the Soviet Union accidentally writes a bestselling autobiography. In chapter two, Tosca, her daughter (born in Canada, where her mother had emigrated) moves to the DDR and takes a job in the circus. Her son the last of their line is Knut, born in chapter three in a Leipzig zoo but raised by a human keeper in relatively happy circumstances in the Berlin zoo, until his keeper, Matthias, is taken away...Happy or sad, each bear writes a story, enjoying both celebrity and the intimacy of being alone with my pen. "
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
blurb
rachelsbrittain
post image

My #weekendreads for this snowy day

blurb
rachelsbrittain
post image

The perfect way to spend a snow day ❄️📚

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
julesG Is it weird that I'm admiring the blanket and your shelves far more than the dog and book? 😁😁😁 2mo
rachelsbrittain @julesG haha I take that as a compliment! 😂 2mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hey sweet pup 🐶 🐾 🤎 2mo
53 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
kaysworld1
post image

Merry Christmas to you all 🎁☃️🎅🍾🍽️🎄

@jhod @TCLinrow @youneverarrived @jenniferw88 @Birdsong28 @RachelO @squirrelbrain @eraderneely @kathedron @TrishB @Cathythoughts
Thank you all for the cards I am so grateful to have you all in my life 🥰😘

squirrelbrain Hope you‘ve had a lovely Christmas 🎄❤️ 4y
eraderneely Happy Christmas!!! 4y
Cathythoughts Happy Christmas Kay 👍🏻❤️🌲 4y
rockpools Hope you‘ve had a lovely Christmas Kay 😘 4y
37 likes4 comments
quote
diovival
post image

"Horse dung looked dignified. I could have brought it to church as an offering like the sheaves of wheat placed on an altar during the harvest festival. Horse dung took on the form of an artwork when it fell to the ground--I wanted to learn to fall as skillfully as it did."

IamIamIam 😂😂 You're always finding such interesting subject matter!!! 5y
diovival @IamIamIam how else am I gonna find literary descriptions of dignified poop. 😂 5y
23 likes2 comments
blurb
diovival
post image

My stubborn determination to finish this book has really thrown a monkey wrench into my overall reading plans. Nearing the end this week.

quote
diovival
post image

"The adjective 'cold' has such an appealing sound. I'd give up anything to experience such cold, for Ice Queen beauty, for shivering jouissance. The ice-cold truth. Acrobatic marvels that give you cold feet. A talent that makes all your competitors blanch and tremble as if frozen. Rationality hone sharp as an icicle. Cold has a broad spectrum." #wordoftheday

quote
diovival

"Many times in the past I had danced atop a gigantic ball, ridden a stunt tricycle and a circus motorcycle. But publishing an autobiography was a far more dangerous acrobatic feet."

quote
diovival

"In the mirror I saw my red-smeared lips, a masterpiece of the beets. I'd never eaten root vegetables voluntarily, but when a beet came swimming in my bowl of borscht, I immediately wanted to kiss it. Bobbing amid the lovely dots of fat floating on top--which at once awoke my appetite for meat--the beet was irresistible."

blurb
diovival
post image

Next up!

review
Fiona6
Pickpick

How unusual! A book written by a polar bear. Sounds strange but I really enjoyed it. Each bear is very different and three write in this book. This may not be a book I read again and again but it was fascinating and enlightening read.

review
Hattie1993
Pickpick

Bizarre in the best kind of way. Beautiful and dream-like in places, heartbreakingly real in others. The innocence of the bears‘ POVs had me laughing out loud and crying, smiling and erupting in goosebumps in turns throughout.

Purrfectpages Welcome to Litsy! 5y
1 comment
blurb
WhereTheBooksGo
post image

I love books narrated by animals, and have been utterly beguiled by the first third of this story of three polar bears.

13 likes3 stack adds
blurb
VioletBramble
post image

My June TBR selections.
#readingresolutions
#Junetbr

riversong153 The lovely bones was really good. 6y
37 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
xicanti
post image
Pickpick

Don't you love it when the book you chose at random from your library's New Additions section is frickin amazing?

I'm not even sure how to talk about MEMOIRS OF A POLAR BEAR. It's weird-ass shit. It's wonderful. It's often sad, but it finds joy in unexpected places. It asks us to consider what we expect from animals and, by extension, people. It questions who stories belong to. And there's a ton about communism I'm not sure I got, but you might.

51 likes3 stack adds
blurb
xicanti
post image

I did another small puzzle solely so I'd have an excuse to listen to MEMOIRS OF A POLAR BEAR. It's way too cold for #audiowalking today--the book's protagonists would love this weather--but #audiopuzzling works just fine.

LauraBeth This is cute! 6y
Andrew65 Love that puzzle! 6y
xicanti @LauraBeth @Andrew65 I was lucky enough to get two puzzles by artist Cindy Mangutz last weekend. The other one looks just as much fun as this fair scene! 6y
Andrew65 @xicanti No big patches of blue sky in this one. 😊 6y
xicanti @Andrew65 thank goodness! 6y
38 likes5 comments
blurb
xicanti
post image

I couldn't resist this little Charles Wysocki puzzle at the library swap. I worked it up tonight partly because his art is fun and partly so I'd have an excuse to listen to more of MEMOIRS OF A POLAR BEAR, which is weird and wonderful and sad. #audiopuzzling

SuziQoregon Wysocki puzzles are so fun 6y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk I stacked the Polar Bear book back when @Lindy was reading it and this reminds me I need to make it happen! 6y
Lindy @TobeyTheScavengerMonk Yes! Make it happen! 6y
xicanti @SuziQoregon I love his folk art style. 6y
xicanti @TobeyTheScavengerMonk yes, do it! I borrowed it at random from my library's New Additions section and I'm mighty impressed. @Lindy 6y
56 likes5 comments
blurb
xicanti
post image

I finished the puzzle! Even with the colour variations, that frickin sky took me all of BROWN GIRL DREAMING and a goodly chunk of MEMOIRS OF A POLAR BEAR. #audiopuzzling

readinginthedark ❤️ Side note: your quest to read all of the X-Men comics=awesome! (edited) 6y
xicanti @readinginthedark thanks! Sometimes, becoming an X-pert has been awesome and sometimes it's been extraordinarily boring. Thankfully, the former times outweigh the latter. 6y
readinginthedark I need to read more of them! X-Men is the best! Also, “X-pert?” You‘re amazing! 😆❤️ 6y
See All 18 Comments
AceOnRoam Yay, it's fantastic. I walked past a store today with puzzles but hubby says what about the 2 you have that are still shrink wrapped... he just doesn't get it!!! 6y
xicanti @readinginthedark the number one rule of X-Men discourse is that if you CAN make an x-pun, you MUST make an x-pun. In related news, it delighted me how the creative team behind THE GIFTED not only made sure every episode title had an X in it but CAPITALIZED the X so you COULDN'T MISS IT. It's one of the most X-Men things anyone has ever done. 6y
RebelReader 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 6y
xicanti @AceOnRoam yeah, it's important to build up a puzzle backlog so you don't run out! 6y
AceOnRoam Exactly! 6y
RealLifeReading Nice!! 6y
Andrew65 Yey! It‘s finished, pesky blue skies. 👍👏🙌🍾🥂 6y
readinginthedark Seems reasonable. Are you following a comprehensive list or just hunting them all down by year or something? 6y
xicanti @RealLifeReading it was a fun one. 6y
xicanti @Andrew65 sometimes I quit before I've finished the sky, unless there's a lot of interesting cloud cover in the image, but Littens encouraged me to keep going with this one. 6y
xicanti @readinginthedark I have Marvel Unlimited, so when I was in the thick of it I added all the core X-series to my library, which automatically sorted them by publication order. I then rotated between the overlapping series by arc. I'm basically finished now, so I just pick away at X-adjacent miniseries and the like in whatever order I please. 6y
readinginthedark Oh, that‘s smart! 6y
UwannaPublishme 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
TricksyTails Wow! That was fast! 👏😁 6y
56 likes18 comments
blurb
whereistexasjen
post image

got my tourism on in nyc 🗽

Tamra The Door will leave a memorable impression! 6y
11 likes1 comment
blurb
Mitch
post image

@ScorpioBookDreams Thanks for the prompt! Envy people with lots of T‘s on their name!
M - Memoirs Of. A Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada. I - Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk. T - The Paying Guest by Sarah Waters. C - Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin. H - Half A Yellow Sun by Chimiamanda Ngozi Adichie

BeansPage Tamara:
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne,
A History of the World by Hugh Thomas,
Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice,
At dawn we slept by Gordon Prange,
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary,
Astrology and You by Carol Righter
6y
39 likes1 comment
blurb
wanderlustforwords
post image

Well, I tried this and just couldn't get into it. It sure is a fun premise, three generations of polar bears, circus performers evolving to live and act like humans. I love fantastical magical realism, it could just be the timing, but this one is a DNF. #litsy #read #books

IWriteInTheNight Awww the premise sounds promising. 6y
mommyincolortv I just started this book today. So far, not bad. 6y
wanderlustforwords @concreterosereads5889 Hi Jennice! Nothing like a reply months later. 😳 I‘m still a newbie here and finally figuring out replying etc... Did you like it? 6y
11 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
mhillis
post image

Memoirs of a Polar Bear won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation! Moving this up on my TBR📚 #wit #translation

54 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Canadian.Reads
post image

I'm on a translated works kick...started this last night and it is surprising and different and exactly why I like reading translations. This has to be the only adult fiction told from the point of view of a polar bear. 🐨🐾 (I think that's a koala but close enough)

blurb
pattiepoetry
post image

Visited my favourite bookshop today, The Book Hive in Norwich, and bought these two lovelies ♡

review
literaery-me
post image
Pickpick

Hard to get into at first, but it's such a !!!! kind of a book. Such a balance between fantasy and reality, plus so blurred lines between man and bear that it's hard to tell the two apart most of the time. So thoughtful and interesting.

5 likes1 stack add
review
thereadingwomen
post image
Pickpick

This book has been on my TBR for ages. Is an interesting story that follows three generations of polar bear circus performers. It's told in three parts and from three different perspectives. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was fascinating and really made me think about the ethics of animal performances. At the same time, I absolutely fell in love with the polar bears. Hear my full review on Ep. 27. - A

Booknerd2 Are animals hurt or horribly mistreated in it?😢 7y
thereadingwomen @Booknerd2 Physical violence doesn't happen to them. But she does talk about the training one of them got in the circus and about what it was like for another to live in a zoo. - A 7y
Booknerd2 @thereadingwomen Thanks. I just have a hard time reading about animals being hurt 7y
See All 6 Comments
thereadingwomen @Booknerd2 I completely understand. Thanks for asking. 😊 7y
Cinfhen Great review/ I wasn't quite sure what this book was about & now I feel better informed 😊thanks‼️ 7y
thereadingwomen @Cinfhen So good to hear! It's a difficult book explain, for sure. - A 7y
94 likes25 stack adds6 comments
blurb
literaery-me
post image

"I feel like the little girl in a bear book for children."
"Which bear? Winnie-the-Pooh? Or maybe Paddington?"
I didn't know either of these bears. "I mean Lev Tolstoy's The Three Bears!"
Wolfgang said: "I've never heard of that one."

blurb
Viji
post image

Just one of the many reasons to love Powells! A whole display of women in translation.

charl08 Brilliant! I can see Han Kang and Ferrante... 7y
Louise Awesome! Did you pick up some good ones? Pray tell! 7y
QuintusMarcus What an awesome display! 7y
129 likes3 comments
blurb
strangemelodies
post image

review
Kalalalatja
post image
Panpan

I don't really know how to describe this book. Three generations of polar bear's memoirs, which are kinda confusing and really weird. I kinda liked the third part about Knut, but the first two were just not my thing. I don't know what I had expected, but this definitely wasn't it.

elkeOriginal Cool idea, cool cover, and cool photo - Too bad it didn't make any sense though! 7y
Cinfhen I agree with @elkeo 7y
Kalalalatja @elkeo @Cinfhen it had so much going for it! I think a lot of people might like this book, but it just fell flat for me... 7y
valeriegeary This book was a trip! I liked the first section better than the rest, even though it was so so weird. Definitely not a book for everyone but I got a kick out of it. 7y
Kalalalatja @valeriegeary That's awesome! It was just a bit too weird for me, I think, but I am glad you liked it! 7y
69 likes5 comments
blurb
Lindy
post image

Last month, I rated 15 out of 30 books with 5 stars on Goodreads. This month, only 6 out of 30 got 5 stars, but that made it easier to choose my favourites. Exit West and Memoirs of a Polar Bear both look at human global migration. Du Iz Tak? is an adorable #picturebook with anthropomorphic insects and an invented language.

emilyhaldi Impressive! 👏🏻 7y
melbeautyandbooks Wow! That's awesome! 7y
43 likes2 comments
blurb
Kalalalatja
post image

#Readathon is over and I read four books, and made it half way through a fifth. Of the books I read, they have all been four or five stars, so all in all a pretty good readathon in my opinion. Now, I really need a nap! 😴📚

Cinfhen Great job 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
JenP Way to go! 7y
Theresa Woohoo! 🎉 7y
82 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Kalalalatja
post image

The last snacks and the last book of my #readathon. So far this book is weird, and I don't really know what I feel about it yet.

61 likes2 stack adds
review
Lindy
post image
Pickpick

Revolutionary. Funny. Surprising. Surreal. Three generations of polar bears - interacting closely with humans - provide viewpoints of emotional power and poetic reality about personal relationships, culture, immigration, and politics. Translation from German by Susan Bernofsky.

TobeyTheScavengerMonk Thanks so much for all the quotes. They were wonderful! (edited) 7y
Lindy @TobeyTheScavengerMonk You are most welcome. 😊 7y
Hobbinol I enjoyed all the quotes too! 7y
Lindy @Hobbinol Yay! It was a pleasure. 7y
51 likes4 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

Was my longing for the world beyond the wall not in and of itself proof that I was a Berliner? When I was born, the Berlin Wall was already part of history, but many Berliners still carried a wall around with them in their brains, separating the right and left halves.

[Image courtesy of Google]

quote
Lindy
post image

The male members of the species Homo sapiens appealed to me a great deal. They were soft and small and had fragile but adorable teeth. Their fingers were delicately constructed, the fingernails all but nonexistent. Sometimes they reminded me of stuffed animals, lovely to hold in one's arms.

quote
Lindy
post image

Recently a visitor tossed a pumpkin into my enclosure. It was an amusing present. It rolled across the stone and fell into the water, but it didn't drown: to my astonishment, it knew how to swim.

[That's my sister in the photo, hanging out with pumpkin people in the Magdalen Islands.]

shawnmooney Hello pumpkin! 😍 7y
Hobbinol Love this photo! 7y
Lindy @Hobbinol Thanks! 7y
38 likes3 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

I wanted to wrap myself in the black woollen blanket of grief and brood over my clutch of sorrows until they hatched and flew away.

33 likes1 stack add
quote
Lindy
post image

This visit by two men made my pen go limp. Of course, the image of a pen standing up vertically or not strikes me as unduly masculine. As a female I am more inclined to say: The smaller the newborn text, the better, because then it has a better chance at survival.

saresmoore I don't really have words in response to this quote-image pairing, but I feel like it warrants a comment! (edited) 7y
Lindy @saresmoore thanks for commenting! I saw this creature at the tile museum in Lisbon. 7y
28 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

The specialists conjectured that Tosca's stressful circus life had made her lose her maternal instincts. It's well known that circus animals under Socialism were overworked and under a great deal of pressure.

valeriegeary This book was such a trip! 7y
Lindy @valeriegeary Agreed. I finished it a couple days ago but it's still very much in my thoughts. 7y
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

All of them were referred to as birds, even though the only thing they had in common was wings. The sparrow, a brown mixture of modesty and agitation, the blackbird with her unassuming humour, the magpie's painted mask, and the pigeon, who lost no opportunity to repeat her favourite motto: "Really? How interesting. I had no idea!"

blurb
Lindy
post image

"pressure had been put on them by religious fundamentalists who refused to tolerate our kiss. One of the many threatening letters they received said: 'Sexual fantasies involving bears are a form of Teutonic barbarism.'" -Tawada

[Did anyone else think of Engel's Bear upon reading that passage?]

LeahBergen I've never read Bear. 😬 7y
Lindy @LeahBergen It's remarkable in so many ways. Tawada makes me want to revisit it. 7y
LeahBergen But actually, that passage did make me think of it (as I knew what it was about). 7y
32 likes3 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

Equally misplaced was the notion "maternal instinct." With animals, childrearing is a matter not of instinct but of art. It can't be very much different for humans or they wouldn't keep adopting children of different species.

quote
Lindy
post image

"Why do panda bears bore you?"
"Since they're born wearing such impressive makeup, they don't make any effort to be interesting. They neither master any stageworthy tricks nor write autobiographies."

Hobbinol ☺️ 7y
41 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
post image

I changed the channel and found myself looking at two panda bears. Two politicians stood outside their cage, shaking hands. I found these panda bears meddling in human politics improper.

Hobbinol 😆 7y
37 likes1 comment
quote
Lindy
post image

My German textbook was more economically priced than a large package of salmon, but unfortunately harder to digest.

Sace I loved German when I took it in high school. 7y
Lcsmcat These quotes are totally making me want to read this book! 7y
Lindy @Lcsmcat Hooray! I hope you do. 7y
30 likes1 stack add3 comments