At all recent years 5 I don’t read much. You could even say I don’t read at all. I still haven’t gotten used to electronic versions of books, much less reading from a smartphone, but there’s simply no time for paper ones, and when I have a little time I don’t have a book at hand. This is an Internet infection, everything is because of it.
As a result of all this, I completely got lost in my favorite topic - science fiction and fantasy. But in principle, maybe I would even read something else.
Without being tied to a genre, I met a small list of currently popular American writers. Who read what?
1. "Sinlessness" by Jonathan Franzen
“Sinlessness” became a real sensation last year: it is called Franzen’s most scandalous and most Russian novel. Discussions about pressing social issues, the totalitarian nature of the Internet, feminism and politics are intertwined with the deep, very personal story of one family.
A young girl named Pip's life is a complete mess: she doesn't know her father, can't pay off her student debt, doesn't know how to build relationships, and has a boring job. But her life changes dramatically when she becomes an assistant to hacker Andreas Wulff, who loves nothing more than to publicly reveal other people's secrets.
2. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Richard Papen recalls his student days at a private college in Vermont: he and several of his friends attended a private course on ancient culture from an eccentric teacher. One prank of an elite circle of students ended in a murder, which only at first glance remained unpunished.
After the incident, other secrets of the heroes are revealed, which lead to new tragedies in their lives.
3. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
Ellis's most famous novel is already considered modern classics. Main character—Patrick Bateman, a handsome, wealthy, and seemingly intelligent young man from Wall Street. But behind the good looks and expensive suits lies greed, hatred and rage. At night, he tortures and kills people in the most sophisticated ways, without a system and without a plan.
4. “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer
A touching story from the perspective of a 9-year-old boy Oscar. His father died in one of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. While examining his father's closet, Oscar finds a vase, and in it is a small envelope with the inscription "Black" and a key inside. Inspired and filled with curiosity, Oscar is ready to go around all the Blacks in New York to find the answer to the riddle. This is a story about overcoming bereavement, post-disaster New York, and human kindness.
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
"The Catcher in the Rye" o modern teenagers- this is how critics dubbed Stephen Chbosky’s book, which sold a million copies and was filmed by the author himself.
Charlie, a typical quiet person, a silent observer of what is happening, goes to high school. After recent nervous breakdown he closed in on himself. To overcome his inner feelings, he begins to write letters. Letters to a friend, unknown person- to the reader of this book. On the advice of his new comrade Pete, he tries to become “not a sponge, but a filter” - to live life to the fullest, and not watch her from the side.
6. The Hours, Michael Cunningham
The story of one day in three lives women from different eras from a Pulitzer Prize winner. The destinies of the British writer Virginia Woolf, the American housewife Laura from Los Angeles and the publishing editor Clarissa Vaughan, at first glance, are connected only by a book - the novel Mrs. Dalloway. But by the end it becomes clear that the lives and problems of the heroines, despite everything external differences, are the same.
7. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
Nick and Amazing Amy are the perfect couple. But on the day of the fifth anniversary, Amy disappears from the house - there are all traces of abduction. The whole city goes in search of the missing woman and sympathizes with Nick until Amy's diary falls into the hands of the police, because of which her husband becomes the main suspect in the murder. The main intrigue of the novel is who was the real victim in this situation.
Flynn's novel attracts with its unconventional view of modern marriage: partners marry beautiful projections of each other and then are very surprised when behind the invented image a living person is discovered, whom they do not know at all.
8. Slaughterhouse-Five, or the Children's Crusade, Kurt Vonnegut
The writer's difficult war experience is reflected in this novel. Memories of the bombing in Dresden are shown through the eyes of the absurd, timid soldier Billy Pilgrim - one of those foolish children who were thrown into a terrible war. But Vonnegut would not be himself if he had not also introduced an element of fantasy into the novel: either due to post-traumatic syndrome, or due to alien intervention, Pilgrim learned to travel in time.
Despite the fantastic nature of what is happening, the message of the novel is quite real and clear: Vonnegut ridicules stereotypes about “real men” and demonstrates the pointlessness of wars.
9. “Beloved,” Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison got Nobel Prize in literature for the fact that in “her novels full of dreams and poetry she revived important aspect American reality." Time magazine named the novel “Beloved” one of the 100 best books in English.
The main character is the slave Sethe, who, along with her children, escaped from her cruel masters and remained free for only 28 days. When the chase overtakes Sethe, she kills her daughter with her own hands - so that she does not know slavery and does not experience the same thing as her mother. The memory of the past and this terrible choice haunts Sethe all her life.
10. A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin
A fantasy epic about the magical world of the Seven Kingdoms, where the struggle for the Iron Throne continues, while a terrible winter approaches the entire continent. On this moment Five novels out of a planned seven have been published. The remaining two parts are awaited by both fans of the writer’s work and fans of “Game of Thrones,” a series based on the saga that is breaking all popularity records.
What are you doing anyway? Lately Did you read anything interesting?
sources
THE GIRL YOU LEFT
Part one
Saint Perron
October 1916
I dreamed about food. Crispy baguettes, real White bread fresh from the oven, aged cheese with a washed rind spreading to the edges of the plate. Grapes and plums in basins, dark and fragrant, filling the air in the house with fragrance. I extended my hand to take the heavy bunch, but my sister stopped me.
Get out! - I muttered. - I want to eat!
Sophie, wake up!
Just the type of cheese made my mouth water. I was going to spread the reblochon on warm white bread and eat some grapes. His sweet taste was already in my mouth, I inhaled the tart aroma.
And everything was ruined by my sister putting her hand on my wrist. The smells evaporated, the plates disappeared. I tried to reach them, but they burst like bubble.
They took Aurelien.
I turned over on my side and blinked in confusion. My sister, like me, had a cotton cap on her head for warmth. Even in the uncertain light of the candle, I saw that she was pale as death, and her eyes were wide with horror.
They took Aurelien. There below.
My head began to slowly clear. Men's cries were heard from below, voices echoed loudly across the stone-paved courtyard, and chickens clucked loudly in the chicken coop. Despite the impenetrable darkness, I felt the air actually trembling with tension. I sat up on the bed, wrapping my nightgown tighter around me, and tried to light a candle on the bedside table.
Then she rushed past her sister to the window and saw soldiers in the yard, clearly visible in the light of the headlights of a military truck, and her younger brother, covering his head with his hands in a vain attempt to protect himself from the blows of weapon butts falling on him from all sides.
What's happening?
They learned about the pig.
Monsieur Suel must have denounced us. I heard their screams from my room. They say that they will take Aurélien if he does not tell where the pig is.
Aurélien will remain silent,” I answered.
We shuddered as if in pain when we heard our younger brother. I looked at my sister and hardly recognized her. She looked forty-five, although she was twenty-four. I knew very well that the same fear was written on my face. What we were afraid of happened.
The commandant is with them. If they find her,” Helen whispered in a trembling voice, “we will all be arrested.” You know what happened in Arras. They will punish us so that others will be discouraged. What will happen to the children then?!
Thoughts were confused in my head. The fear that my brother might speak made it impossible to think straight. I threw a shawl over my shoulders and tiptoed again to the window to once again look at what was happening in the yard. The arrival of the commandant indicated that it was not just drunken soldiers who wandered into our place, eager to vent their feelings of dissatisfaction by distributing blows and threats. No, this time we were really in trouble. His presence indicated that we had committed a serious crime.
Sophie, they will definitely find her. In a matter of minutes. And then... - Helen’s voice rose from horror to a scream.
I was tormented by dark thoughts. I closed my eyes. And she opened it again.
“Go downstairs,” I said firmly. - Pretend you don't know anything. Ask what Aurélien did wrong. Talk to the commandant. Try to distract him. Take time so I can do everything before they break into the house.
What are you going to do?
Go! - I grabbed her hand tightly. - Go. But don't tell them anything. Understood? And deny everything!
After a moment's hesitation, the sister, sweeping the floor with the hem of her nightgown, ran down the corridor. I have never felt so alone as in those few seconds. Fear cold hand I was squeezing my throat, and the responsibility for the fate of my family weighed heavily on my shoulders. I rushed into my father's office and began to frantically rummage through the depths of the massive desk, throwing the contents of the boxes onto the floor: old writing pens, scraps of paper, parts from a broken watch and some ancient accounts - until finally, thank God, I found what I was looking for. Then I ran downstairs, opened the door to the cellar and went down the cold stone steps, so familiar and familiar that, despite the eerie darkness, I could well have done without the ghostly light of a candle. I lifted the heavy bolt on the door leading to the adjoining cellar, which had once been filled to the ceiling with kegs of beer and good wine, rolled the empty barrel aside and opened the door of the old cast iron stove for baking bread.
The piglet, lying on a straw bed, blinked its eyes sleepily. He stood up, looked at me and grunted with displeasure. I've probably already told you the story of this pig? We stole it during a requisition on Monsieur Girard's farm. By the grace of God, he fought off a herd of pigs that the Germans were driving into the back of a truck, and instantly found shelter under the fluffy skirts of old Madame Pauline. We fed him acorns and scraps for weeks, hoping that once he gained weight we could turn him into meat. For the past month, residents of the Red Rooster lived in the hope of tasting juicy pork with a crispy crust.
From outside again came the short cry of the brother, then the hasty pleading voice of the sister and the sharp cry of the German officer. The piglet looked at me quite intelligently with its intelligent eyes, as if it already knew what awaited it.
I’m sorry, mon petit,” I whispered. - But I have no other choice. - And with these words she lowered her hand.
Then I woke Mimi, telling her to follow me, but only silently. The poor girl had seen enough of everything in recent months, so she obeyed unquestioningly. She watched me pick up her baby brother, slipped out of the crib and trustingly placed her tiny hand in my hand.
In the air, which already felt the approach of winter, there was the smell of smoke from the stove, slightly heated in the early evening. I looked out from under the stone arch of the back door and, seeing the commandant, hesitated. It was not Mr. Becker, whom we knew well and deeply despised, but some tall, slender man. Even in the darkness, I was able to discern on his clean-shaven, impassive face the presence of intelligence, and not militant grayness, and this scared me terribly.
The new commandant looked at our windows with interest, perhaps already wondering in his mind whether our home would be suitable for permanent residence. It was clearly better than the Fourier farm, where the senior officers were quartered. The commandant seemed to be well aware that our house, located on a hill, gave him an excellent overview of the entire city. In addition, we had stables and ten bedrooms. Remnants of former luxury from the time when the house was a thriving hotel.
Hélène lay on the paving stones and, with her arms outstretched, covered Aurelien with herself.
One of the soldiers raised his gun, but the commandant stopped him with a gesture.
Get up! - he ordered.
I felt Mimi, seeing her mother, squeeze my hand even tighter. And she answered her with a light squeeze, although she felt that her soul had sunk into her heels. Then I took a step forward and said in a ringing voice:
What on earth is going on here?
The commandant, clearly surprised by my tone, glanced in my direction. He saw a young woman come out from under the arch of the door with a child at her hem and a swaddled baby on her chest. My nightcap had slipped to one side, and my white nightgown was so thin that my body was visible through it. In my heart I prayed that the commandant would not hear how loudly my heart was beating.
Well, now what kind of offense did your people decide to punish us for? - I turned directly to him.
Surely no woman dared to talk to him like that. It looks like he hasn't heard anything like this since he left the house. Everyone seemed speechless with surprise, and a tense silence hung in the courtyard. My brother and sister, who were lying on the ground, looked in my direction, since they both understood perfectly well what my obstinacy meant for all of us.
Who are you?
Madame Lefebvre.
I noticed that he was clearly checking if I had wedding ring. Wasted work! Like most local women, I exchanged it for food.
Madam, we have information that you are illegally hiding livestock.
He spoke calmly, his French was quite passable, which indicated a long stay in the occupied territory. You obviously cannot scare such a person.
Livestock?
We have learned from a reliable source that you are hiding a pig in your house. You may be aware that, according to command regulations, concealment of livestock is punishable by imprisonment.
“I know exactly who informed you,” I answered, holding his gaze. - Monsieur Suel. Non?
My face was burning, my hair, braided in a long braid, was so electrified that the back of my head tingled.
The commandant turned to one of his subordinates. His eyes rolled around, which only confirmed my suspicions.
Monsieur Commandant, Monsieur Suel visited us at least twice a month to convince us that, due to the absence of our husbands, we needed his care and attention. But because we neglected his kindness, he took revenge on us by starting to spread gossip and even threaten our lives.
Authorities only use credible sources.
Jojo Moyes
Pages: 490
Estimated reading time: 6 hours
Year of publication: 2012
Russian language
Started reading: 5715
Description:
Almost a century separates Sophie Lefevre and Liv Halston. But they are united by the determination to fight to the last for what is most dear to them in life.
The painting “The Girl You Left” for Sophie is a reminder of the happy years lived with her husband, a talented artist, in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. After all, on this canvas her husband depicted her, young and beautiful.
For Liv Halston, living today, Sophie's portrait is wedding gift, made shortly before her death by her beloved husband. A chance meeting opens Liv's eyes to the true value of the painting, and when she learns the history of the painting, her life changes forever...
Jojo Moyes's books have been translated into many languages, regularly appear on the New York Times bestseller list, and the rights to their film adaptation are bought by leading Hollywood film studios.
Year of book publication: 2012
Jojo Moyes's book "The Girl You Left Behind" became the eleventh book by the then already quite popular writer. The novel was born almost immediately after the release of the popular book and for a long time remained in the shadow of this novel. But after several years, many fans of JoJo’s books discovered the novel “The Girl You Left,” and, judging by the reviews, appreciated it.
The plot of the book "The Girl You Left" in brief
In the book “The Girl You Left Behind” by Jojo Moyes you can read about the events that unfolded around two completely different girls who even live at different times and in different parts of the world. In this connection, as in the book, the book is divided into two parts. One of them tells the story of Sophie Lefebvre, who lives in 1916 in the small town of Saint-Perron. A town occupied by the Germans, without food, without heat and without a husband. Sophie's husband, Edward, like other men capable of holding weapons, went to the front. The only reminder of him and their love is the picture that Edward painted with Sophie in the first year of their marriage.
The second girl from Jojo Moyes' book The Girl You Left Behind is Liv Halston. She lives in London 2006. Her husband David left this life not long ago, and as a reminder of him, the girl only had a painting left, which he gave to Liv. Liv's financial affairs are not going so well and her only hope is to save the only reminder of her husband - the painting. Moreover, besides creditors, other people are also hunting for the painting.
The stories of these two seemingly completely different girls are intertwined into a single ball. And the only thing that connects them is the picture. A picture that was dear to both Sophie and Liv, a picture that carries many secrets and can give hope for happiness to the main characters.
As for the reviews of Jojo Moyes’ book “The Girl You Left Behind,” they are far from clear. On the one hand, a rather non-trivial plot for both love story, the author's wonderful language and detective elements make the book exciting and easy to read. On the other hand, the main characters are stereotyped, their feelings and actions are difficult to logic, and the plot is quite predictable. However, even those who have negative reviews of Moyes's The Girl You Left Away agree that the book deserves your attention. After all, it is easy to read, and the plot, although not very dynamic, is captivating. That is why Moyes’s book “The Girl You Left Behind” can be recommended for download to all lovers of a modern romance novel.
The book “The Girl You Left” on the Top books website
Jojo Moyes's novel "The Girl You Left Behind" is so popular to read that it has taken its rightful place among. Moreover, she got into ours. And given the consistently high interest in the work, it will be presented more than once among.
