Welcome to Litsy!

Ever since I read The Book of Eels, I‘ve been noticing them everywhere #eels

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 74
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

So far me and my teeny reading buddy are enjoying this one

I have three books I bought in January 2020 that I haven‘t read. I aim to read two this month. Wish me luck.

Final book club read of the year, finished just in time. This novel was beautifully written (translated from the Dutch), but I am so tired of books about painting and WWI/WWII. I can‘t honestly give it a fair review because I‘m so biased based on the subject matter. Going into 2020, I‘ve resolved that I‘m only going to read the art book club selections if I‘m genuinely interested. Otherwise, I‘ll admit I‘m just there for the company and food.

In “Turpentine,” Hertsman brings together a family‘s generations through his own union of fiction, non-fiction, photos, and paintings. When we want to learn about our heroes, we often turn to idealized, grand representations—perhaps in art or writing. Hertmans reminds us that we can discover things far more revealing and true in the tiniest of objects: A watch, a bullet, a stroke of paint, even the individual words in a beautifully written book.

I've read a lot of war books, but never one from an artist's perspective. This book was so lovingly and beautifully written, even in the horrific and grizzly descriptions of battle and death the author approaches with great care and respect. It's a wonderful tribute to both his grandfather and the Belgians who lived and died at that time.

I read this book while traveling through Belgium. At first, I felt the narrator‘s voice was intruding too much, but I came to believe I was in the hands of a talented writer whose choices I could trust. It‘s the story of a young man and artist and his experiences during WW1. The first section and third section are told by his grandson, and the middle section is narrated by the main character and tell the story of the war in Belgium.

Thank you @Dulcinella for these amazing gifts! Currently brewing the coffee and trying to keep my husband from the chocolate! The blanket is beautiful and the candle my favorite color! I can't wait to read the book! Thanks so much for this awesome gift! @JoeStalksBeck @Tiffy_Reads #blanketandabook

Thank you so much @Dulcinella for such a carefully thought out package! Very excited about this book 😁

A thoughtful, loving portrait of a man (the author‘s grandfather? But it‘s called ‘a novel‘) set in post-war Belgium. Erudite with many art & music references, which add texture. However, despite being described as such it doesn‘t read like a novel (there is no plot), nor does it have the authenticity of a memoir. There is a lot to like in the writing & character, but I was bored and found the mix of fact & fiction confusing.

This would be 1000 times more enjoyable if Hertmans didn‘t write page long paragraphs...

#passportlitsy

Starting my 2018 #passportlitsy challenge today! January = Belgium

I‘m finding this slow and it reads more like a memoir than a novel. He‘s thoughtful and erudite, which I like, but not sure if I have the patience to finish it. I have a back-up for #Belgium though so it‘s all good! 😬😉
#passportlitsy #booknlunch

Just arrived home from Hong Kong to find this #bookmail ! #passportlitsy preparation: Andorra, Belgium and Comoros. 🙌🏻📚🌍

An amazing book - part novel, part memoir, part history, part art critique - beautifully written and structured.

Bailed a fifth of the way in. This is not really a novel at all – it's a rather dry memoir with sections that go on and on that are more like essayistic musings on Belgian history and culture with little about the main characters at all. What little there was of an actual story was moderately interesting, about a grandfather who'd been a painter of sorts. What I couldn't endure was the feeling of watching paint dry while reading this.

This makes me cringe, and makes me remember that my 90-something-year-old grandmother bought me a university ring from her alma mater, the University of Saskatchewan, in the mid-80s, which was my university as well, and I lost it within five years or less.

A really moving book which spans the lives of three generations of men. It looks at; art, war, family, poverty and masculinity. It has a really interesting structure, occupying the border land between fiction and memoir.

#amreading #imbooker2017

Art: Self-portrait, by Hugh Ramsay

The painting is 'The Baths of Ostend' by—you guessed it—James Ensor (1890).

Simply stunning. The book truely captivated me. Love, tragedy, war and art, Hertmans has really written an astonishing read.

Continuing on with #readallthebooks! War & Turpentine now on deck. Also this is for #LitsyRC15 Translated from Dutch.

This paradox was the constant in his life, as he was tossed back and forth between the soldier he had to be and the artist he‘d wished to become. War and turpentine.

"For some people, no life is long enough to recover from the shock of love, not even if they live to be nearly a hundred."

Racing to finish this library book by tomorrow evening. (Leaving town on Saturday morning.) But it's not a race-through book. Story of writer's grandfather, a painter who managed to survive WWI. The writer is a Flemish poet. Not fast-paced but lots of beautiful passages. On the #ToB17 long list, but doubt it will make the final 16.

"Now that he [my grandfather] has receded in time like the figures in ancient myths and stories, he has become tangible in an entirely new manner, in the way of an intimate history."
#sundaymorningreading

This is a memoir of a grandson trying to remember & understand his grandfather & his grandfather's story. I found the middle section dealing with the grandfather's time in WWI on the Yser front to be the most moving. You really feel the grittiness of trench warfare and the great divide that existed between the men in the trenches & the high ranking officers. I also loved the use of art to illuminate the mental & emotional spaces of the grandfather

Robert Gottlieb recommended this as the best book he's read in a long while....I'm intrigued. On to the TBR pile it goes