When Ernest Hemingway was 19 years old, he signed up as a volunteer with the American Red Cross which was looking for ambulance drivers to send to the Italian front during World War I. Having just graduated from high school, it was his first time to travel abroad. He was hungry for adventure and eager…
On a whim, I read Ernest Hemingway‘s A Farewell to Arms a few weeks ago. I didn’t know much about it other than it was about some war – World War II, I thought. Before reading it, I was actually getting it confused with the 1996 movie In Love and War, starring Sandra Bullock and Chris O’Donnell.…
After reading a review on npr.org of the latest book in Andrea Camillieri‘s allegedly popular Inspector Montalbano series, I decided to do a little detective work on my own about the author and the series, which I later learned was already 17-books long (and counting). The article on npr.org was about the 17th, and latest…
Brown, that is, not Alighieri. In the 4th book of his famous Robert Langdon series, Dan Brown has his unlikely hero running around a famous, historical European city with a beautiful and intelligent young woman, being chased by some world famous organization, looking at architecture, art and literature to look for clues to solve a…
Exactly two weeks to go before I fly off to Paris and I’m a bit stressed out with preparations, not to mention having mixed feelings about the whole trip. I’ll be honest – Paris intimidates me. The food is intimidating, the language is intimidating and the fashion is intimidating. I’ve never been to Paris, and…
I’ve had to set aside the two novels was reading to make way for 2 other books I have to read for ‘research.’ In preparation for my upcoming trip to Europe, I have temporarily forsaken George R.R. Martin and David Mitchell to learn a thing or two from the Frommers – Arthur, Hope in Frommer’s…
“In the day’s last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked like a sea of molten gold.” I didn’t think I would actually finish this wonderful book by Salman Rushdie. To be honest, I find it quite difficult and intimidating to write a “review” about it. Though I found the book quite enjoyable, I…
The Misanthropologist 