Let September be painted in bright colors, but our bookshelves are occupied by the most important literature for each of us right now. Only a small part of it in this selection.
Personal stories
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Emilija Ratakowska “My body”
Translated from English by Sintija Zariņa
Publisher – “Zvaigzne ABC”
The body and its acceptance is one of the keys to finding and finding yourself. However, American model, actress, entrepreneur Emily Ratakowska does not write about self-acceptance in her book “My Body”. Rather, it is a story about the image of the female body in society, about the demands and denials that each of us experiences almost every day. How do you understand yourself in a world where there is so much sexualization, guilt, stereotypes, and rules about how a woman should look, act, and feel? Emilija Ratakowska writes her story and an example that has inspired women all over the world. It’s a revealing and honest message, also brave and inspiring as it encourages acceptance and feeling yourself.
Emily Ratakowska’s autobiography “My Body” is a woman’s reminder to a woman to live in a body that is not just a commodity, but primarily an identity.
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Lelde Jauja “Alphabet of Overeating”
Publisher – “Zvaigzne ABC”
Latvian author Lelde Jauja continues the theme of body acceptance and deals with the relationship between women and food in her novel “The Alphabet of Overeating”. However, the novel is not limited to genders – eating disorders are also known to men, and the author managed to delve into the many aspects of this very common problem in a very witty but emotionally effective way. Eating as self-comfort, as caressing, hugging, pitying, food as ally and enemy, but somewhere in the middle of a pile of empty candy wrappers, also a person who is confused and lost. Step by step, or in the case of “Overeating Alphabet”, letter by letter, the author goes through the twists and turns of eating disorders until she reaches the end point, which means only the continuation of the path and self-acceptance, which never ends.
One can only admire Lelde Jauja’s ability to write relatively easily, even wittily, about such a difficult and serious topic. “Alphabet of overeating” does not moralize, does not drive fear, but rather allows you to identify, feel the problem and maybe even start the path to solving it.
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Mara Upman-Holstein “Notes on the Edges of Doubt”
Publisher – “Astro Music”
Doubts are the driving force of human life – they drive us forward, because they make us think and reevaluate everything we are and are not, but sometimes they stop us and make us simply listen. Astro’n’out musician and soloist Mara Upman-Holstein’s very personal story in the book “Notes on the Edge of Doubt” is the most emotional adventure on the pages of this fall. Only a very strong person can speak so honestly about everything that has been experienced and felt, who no longer doubts himself or has left doubts only as seeds for challenging moments. The book is a story about music, about family and sad, dark moments. But Mara Upman-Holstein’s writing will appeal most to those who are still searching for themselves. “Notes on the Edges of Doubt” confirms that the truth is already there somewhere in us, we just need to hear it.
A beautiful and soul-baring book that will “sound” best with Mara’s music in the background.
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Dave Grohl “The Storyteller”
Translated from English by Eva Veita
Publisher – “Helios” publishing house
If you’ve ever experienced that overwhelming sense of joy and rapture just from knowing you’re in the right place and doing something you really, really love, then you can kind of get the feel of this book. Dave Grohl’s love for rock music permeates every page of this book. They are full of excitement, pride, emotion and also respect and tell about the darkest days of the musician, the harshest and most incredible adventures on and behind the stage, about the rise and success that could dazzle anyone. But Dave Grohl remains unfailingly humble, always smiling and a talkative storyteller who seems to know how to tell every day of his life as the greatest adventure.
The road to self-acceptance, finding and understanding can be accompanied by rock music, but just as confusing, full of fear and uncertainty. Dave Grohl admits his weaknesses are part of who he is, but isn’t afraid to outgrow them to achieve more.
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Zane Krēsliņa “Espresso, croissant and happy life for me, please”
Publisher – “Latvijas Mediji”
Latvian author Zane Krēsliņa’s novel “Man, please, espresso, croissant and happy life” will be known to many, many women. Self-delusion, self-searching in a marriage that does not deliver what was expected, relationship with the body and the forever criticizing mind – the novel is a sad song of a modern woman, so familiar and experienced. The central character of the novel, Lily, goes in search of herself to France, where she gets to know the land of croissants and strong coffee, which is more and wider than Paris and the Eiffel Tower. At the same time, Lily gets to know and finally hears herself. Don’t be fooled – Zane Krēsliņa’s very personal story is not just a novel about buns, coffee and love. This book forces you to experience and encourages you not to lose hope in the search for your true core.
“Espresso, a croissant and a happy life for me, please”, as the afterword of the novel says, is a story with a lot of the author’s personal experience, and this is what gives it the spark that allows the book to be believed and maybe even to see a part of yourself.
Stories in fiction
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Dace Rukšane “Russian skin”
Publisher – “Days Book”
In the novel “Russian Skin” by the Latvian author Dace Rukšāne, a note of self-searching is also heard. However, finding and truly feeling yourself at a time when lies and delusions reign all around is especially challenging and difficult. Growing up in the darkest years of the Soviet era, seeing how both silence and words can destroy, but always striving for the truth and real love – it seems that only after the passage of time do we realize how emotionally challenging and destructive the time described in the novel was. This is Soviet Latvia in the 1950s and 1960s, which shocks with the humiliation and burden of being an obedient citizen to an unknown and incomprehensible power. However, somewhere in these delusions and fears there is also a person and love – not allowed, talked about, looked at with a white eye, but the kind that touches the core of the truth the most warmly.
The novel “Russian skin” is a portrait of a person of the era and the relevant time. It is a book about women in a time when femininity is not talked about, but it is vital to feel it.
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Leons Briedis “Vilcene and widow”
Publisher – “Days Book”
The very personal but at the same time poetic novel by the Latvian poet Leon Briež “Vilcene and a Widower” is a story about a man’s life after the death of his wife. Taking refuge in the mountains of Romania, the main character of the novel hides from life, pain and everyday life, where everything reminds of loss. The presence of nature is of great importance in this story, and the image of the train here embodies everything natural and wild, but also sad and lonely. As in the babbling Carpathian river, you can also immerse yourself in the author’s language, which richly and vividly describes both what is observed in nature and what is felt by man. The novel is about living and finding yourself again after a great and life-changing loss, and it is a song of quiet loneliness that is truly unbearable for a person.
Leona Brieža “Vilcene and widow” is a novel for lovers of good literature and beautiful language and for those who yearn to believe in the light in the darkness. Also in that darkness that spreads in the very depths.
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Jeffrey Eugenides “Middlesex”
Translated from English by Valda Melgalve
Publisher – “Walters and Rapa”
Geoffrey Eugenides’ family saga Middlesex is a large and impressive novel about a subject that remains uncomfortable and unpopular in the context of current debates. The central character of the novel is a hermaphrodite, and the message of the book is essentially an endless and complex search for oneself in a world where there are only two allowed boxes – a woman and a man. But what happens in between? How does it feel for a person who does not quite fit any of the possible standards, either physically or mentally? This is a family saga, the path of three generations, choices, fatal coincidences and mistakes. It is a novel that pokes and prods the reader as well, because the search for self in “Middlesex” is not limited to the understanding of sexuality. It is also a search for humanity, first of all, in oneself, recognizing and accepting the different and the different.
Feeling and finding yourself is often associated with great losses. This is also what “Middlesex” tells about – a novel in which the feeling of correctness, which is only an appearance, runs through it like an unbreakable string.
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Victoria Schwab “Evil”
Translated from English by Uldis Šēns
Publisher – “Prometheus”
Quite unusual and seemingly out of place in this selection of books is the novel “Malice” by Victoria Schwab. It is a fantasy novel through and through, with characters that are more improbable than others. The story of two friends, Viktor and Elia, who acquire supernatural powers, is actually a story of envy, jealousy, rivalry. These not-so-positive character traits become especially scary when you have a couple of slightly deranged superheroes. Although the novel can basically be called a good piece of entertainment, its message also allows us to think about the self, the character that makes a person or whose slave he becomes. The novel’s central characters do not indulge in existential reflections on life, but this book and its dynamic pages allow the reader to reflect on the clash of evil and good in their own lives.
An entertaining, rather scary fantasy novel in which you will forget, but which will allow you to remember that just like evil, goodness is also a choice, and can be cultivated in the heart if we are in a good place.
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Fredrik Buckman “A Man Called Uwe”
Translated from Swedish by Ineta Balode
Publisher – “Jānis Roze”
We often associate self-searching and change with youth, or at least early maturity. However, the Swedish author Fredriks Backman in his novel “A man named Uve” proves that opening up to the world and others can also happen much later. The story of the gloomy pensioner Uva and his fate is touching with simplicity and sincerity, as well as Swedish humor. When a new family moves into Uve’s neighborhood, the old man’s life changes and hope and childlike joy enter his everyday life. Rarely will we meet someone who, in their old age, is ready to travel the world to find themselves anew. Sometimes the most valuable thing is to stay at home and let the changes happen here and now.
The novel “A Man named Uve” reminds us of the joy of life that is born anew if we allow ourselves to be, and of the human support and strength that we can give to each other. Yes, even one caress or smile is a change or at least the beginning of it.
Book selections
2023-09-24 12:56:45
#roads #lead #Books #selfdiscovery #personal #discovery
