Bookbot

Nicolette Hoekmeijer

    Practical Magic
    Last Night in Twisted River
    The Argonauts
    For the Relief of Unbearable Urges
    Dolce Vita
    Recitatif
    • Recitatif

      • 64pagine
      • 3 ore di lettura

      In this 1983 short story--the only short story Morrison ever wrote--we meet Twyla and Roberta, who have known each other since they were eight years old and spent four months together as roommates in St. Bonaventure shelter. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only later to find each other again at a diner, a grocery store, and again at a protest. Seemingly at opposite ends of every problem, and at each other's throats each time they meet, the two women still cannot deny the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them. Another work of genius by this masterly writer, Recitatif keeps Twyla's and Roberta's races ambiguous throughout the story. Morrison herself described Recitatif, a story which will keep readers thinking and discussing for years to come, as "an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial." We know that one is white and one is Black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage?

      Recitatif2022
      4,4
    • The Argonauts

      • 160pagine
      • 6 ore di lettura

      An intrepid voyage out to the frontiers of the latest thinking about love, language, and family Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts is a genre-bending memoir, a work of "autotheory" offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. It binds an account of Nelson's relationship with her partner and a journey to and through a pregnancy to a rigorous exploration of sexuality, gender, and "family." An insistence on radical individual freedom and the value of caretaking becomes the rallying cry for this thoughtful, unabashed, uncompromising book.

      The Argonauts2016
      4,0
    • Het nulpunt / druk 1

      • 366pagine
      • 13 ore di lettura

      Wanneer politieagent Brian Remy vijf dagen na 9/11 ontwaakt uit een coma, merkt hij dat zijn waarnemingsvermogen erg vreemd werkt. Hij ziet vlekjes – als het dwarrelende puin dat van de ingestorte torens naar beneden viel – die voor eeuwig zijn beeld verstoren, en zijn geheugen hapert en vertoont soms grote gaten. De reconstructie van zijn eigen geschiedenis van 9/11 is in eerste instantie één grote dwaaltocht. Ook kan Remy een aantal zaken niet plaatsen. Zo verloopt het contact met zijn ex-vrouw moeizaam, hebben de gesprekken met zijn collega Guterak een voor hem vreemd onderwerp en is hem volstrekt onduidelijk wat de opdracht inhoudt, die hij kennelijk in het kader van de nationale veiligheid heeft gekregen. Laat staan dat hij nog weet van wie en wanneer hij die belangrijke opdracht. Tot overmaat van ramp negeert zijn zoon Edgar hem volledig; hij doet hij net alsof zijn vader is omgekomen bij de aanslag. Wat volgt is een intrigerende “histoire noir” waarin Jess Walter met een zeker sarcasme en enige humor vertelt over de chaotische dagen na die enorme tragedie. Een gebeurtenis die zoveel ouders van kinderen het leven nam en die het denken over orde en veiligheid in de wereld voorgoed heeft veranderd.

      Het nulpunt / druk 12015
      3,2
    • Quando Pasquale Tursi vede per la prima volta la bellissima Dee Moray è immerso nei suoi sogni, a immaginare che un giorno quel piccolo fazzoletto di costa avuto in eredità, possa diventare un’esclusiva cittadina di vacanza alla moda, e lui stesso un uomo d’affari di successo. Un’elegante imbarcazione con la donna a bordo si avvicina, e il giovane albergatore le porge la mano per scendere. La onna alza lo sguardo e gli sorride. In quell’istante Pasquale è estasiato. Rimarrà legato a quel sentimento per il resto della sua vita, come la magia di un sogno che si ripete. Dee è un’attrice americana che ha il destino segnato da un male spietato. È lì di ritorno dal set romano di Cleopatra, in attesa del suo agente Michael Deane, che la accompagnerà in una clinica svizzera per le cure. Pasquale non capisce perché una celebrità come lei sia venuta ad alloggiare nella sua pensione diroccata, lontano dai lussi degli alberghi che deve essere abituata a frequentare. Inizia così, sotto l’accecante sole della costa ligure, una delle più struggenti e luminose storie d’amore mai raccontate. Attraverso una carrellata di episodi, luoghi e personaggi indimenticabili, l’autore accompagna il lettore in un mondo dove ognuno di noi, almeno per un momento, ha sognato di vivere: Hollywood!

      Ricorda di non dimenticarmi2015
      3,7
    • Odds against tomorrow

      • 306pagine
      • 11 ore di lettura

      A novel about fear of the future—and the future of fearNew York City, the near future: Mitchell Zukor, a gifted young mathematician, is hired by a mysterious new financial consulting firm, FutureWorld. The business operates out of an empty office in the Empire State Building; Mitchell is employee number two. He is asked to calculate worst-case scenarios in the most intricate detail, and his schemes are sold to corporations to indemnify them against any future disasters. This is the cutting edge of corporate irresponsibility, and business is booming.     As Mitchell immerses himself in the mathematics of catastrophe—ecological collapse, war games, natural disasters—he becomes obsessed by a culture’s fears. Yet he also loses touch with his last connection to reality: Elsa Bruner, a friend with her own apocalyptic secret, who has started a commune in Maine. Then, just as Mitchell’s predictions reach a nightmarish crescendo, an actual worst-case scenario overtakes Manhattan. Mitchell realizes he is uniquely prepared to profit. But at what cost?     At once an all-too-plausible literary thriller, an unexpected love story, and a philosophically searching inquiry into the nature of fear, Nathaniel Rich’s Odds Against Tomorrow poses the ultimate questions of imagination and civilization. The future is not quite what it used to be.

      Odds against tomorrow2013
      3,4
    • In acht verhalen ontleedt Nathan Englander de menselijke ziel. In het titelverhaal worden de huwelijken van twee joodse echtparen tegen het licht gehouden en wordt de Holocaust gereduceerd tot een gezelschapsspelletje: 'Zou jij me bij jou laten onderduiken als je niet van joodse komaf zou zijn en er een nieuwe Holocaust is?' Op fantasievolle wijze analyseert hij de grote levensvragen waar iedereen mee worstelt over zingeving, familiebanden en, uiteraard, liefde. Ook vormen de verhalen een inkijkje in de ziel van Englander zelf - op invoelende wijze maakt hij ons deelgenoot van zijn leven en zijn familie. Hiermee zoekt hij telkens weer de grenzen op tussen fictie en werkelijkheid.

      Waar we het over hebben wanneer we het over Anne Frank hebben2012
      3,4
    • Last Night in Twisted River

      • 554pagine
      • 20 ore di lettura

      In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County-to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto-pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them. A tale that spans five decades.

      Last Night in Twisted River2010
      3,8
    • De tong van de burgemeester

      • 294pagine
      • 11 ore di lettura

      De tong van de burgemeester is een stoutmoedige, wervelende debuutroman waar twee verhaallijnen met elkaar zijn verweven. Een jonge man, Eugene Brentani, wordt gedreven door zijn liefde voor literatuur en taal en is een bewonderaar van de schrijver en avonturier Constance Eakins, die in Italië woont. De andere verhaallijn vertelt over een oude man, meneer Schmitz, wiens vrouw op sterven ligt en die, bang en in de war, zoekt steun bij zijn goede vriend Rutherford. Maar Rutherford is spoorloos, en zijn brieven, met een Italiaans poststempel, krijgen met de week een onheilspellender toon. De avonturen van de mannen voeren hen van New York City naar de bergachtige grensstreek van Noord-Italië, waar de grenzen tussen realiteit en verbeelding vervagen en de verhaallijnen een eigen leven gaan leiden. Boven dit vreemde, spookachtige landschap doemt het beeld op van de ‘Burgemeester’, een mythische figuur die door de inwoners van zijn stad als een ‘schitterende schepper’ wordt gezien, en wiens aantrekkingskracht onweerstaanbaar is.

      De tong van de burgemeester2008
      2,9
    • The Ministry of Special Cases

      • 339pagine
      • 12 ore di lettura

      In the midst of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan grapples with a son who rejects him, seeks a wife who perpetually saves him, and spends his nights safeguarding the reputation of a community that ignores his existence and its troubled history. This long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, acclaimed author of a celebrated story collection, opens with a striking scene in a forgotten Buenos Aires cemetery. As the nightmare of the disappeared children devastates the Poznan family, they are forced into the unforgiving corridors of the Ministry of Special Cases, their last refuge. Englander’s debut novel is a timeless exploration of father-son relationships amidst a chaotic world where truth is malleable, shaped by a corrupt government. One hopeless man strives to confront his past and redeem his name, even if just for a moment. The narrative showcases Englander's signature wit, cosmic absurdity, and a delicate balance of joy and despair. Through the lens of a single family's tragedy, he poignantly captures a nation's grief. This work, like his earlier stories, celebrates our humanity, embracing both its frailties and the enduring spirit of hope.

      The Ministry of Special Cases2008
      3,7
    • Thee op de blauwe sofa

      Een geheime liefde in Afrika

      • 127pagine
      • 5 ore di lettura

      Nadat de grote liefde van een vrouwelijke jager in Tanzania is doodgeschoten, kan ze geen afscheid van hem nemen omdat hij nog getrouwd is.

      Thee op de blauwe sofa2005
    • - The bestselling status (and subsequent blockbuster film adaptations) of Bridget Jones's Diary and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is proof of the enduring strength of this category.- Although the novel is invented, Elisabeth Robinson is a successful Hollywood producer whose credits include Braveheart and Last Orders. Her experience enlivens every page.- Rights sales have been made already in Germany, Holland, Italy, and the U.K.

      The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters2004
      3,2
    • Sono bionde e sfacciatamente belle. Ma la vita per loro non è certo rose efiori. Vivere, o meglio, sopravvivere a New York è peggio di una corsa aostacoli: devi fiondarti dal parrucchiere per via di quella dannata ricrescitabruna, accaparrarti l'ultimo modello di scarpe Manolo Blahnik prima che lofaccia la tua vicina, trovare il modo di scroccare una casa negli Hamptons perl'estate. Purtroppo, poi, essere giovani e perfettamente depilate è uno sprecose passi le serate chiusa in casa a fissare il telefono che tace. Già, perchégli uomini belli sono egoisti, quelli sensibili sono gay, quelli attraenti titradiranno e quelli in carriera sono troppo occupati. Meno male che c'èl'ironia...

      Bionde a pezzi2001
      2,7
    • For the Relief of Unbearable Urges

      • 224pagine
      • 8 ore di lettura

      In these ten delightfully irreverent stories, Nathan Englander spins a bold, funny, irresistibly inventive vision of modern orthodox Judaism.

      For the Relief of Unbearable Urges2001
      4,0
    • Dolce Vita

      • 150pagine
      • 6 ore di lettura

      Una is a sexual fantasist. She is a kept woman who's romantic ideas about the lifestyle don't quite live up to the reality. She searches for an affair, but finds herself flitting from one romantic infatuation to another. From her studio she explores a Paris full of unpredictable characters.

      Dolce Vita1999
      3,5
    • Practical Magic

      • 317pagine
      • 12 ore di lettura

      For more than two hundred years, the Owens women had been blamed for everything that went wrong in their Massachusetts town. And Gillian and Sally endured that fate as well: As children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One would do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they shared, even into adulthood, brought them back--almost as if by magic...

      Practical Magic1996
      3,7