Kyriakos Sorokkou's Blog: Risky Oak's Bookish Thoughts

2017 Bookish Resolutions ή ελληνιστί βιβλιοστόχοι.

■Ξεκίνησα κι εγώ εδώ και κάτι μέρες ένα μπλογκ, ξέρω έχει βρομίσει ο τόπος από βιβλιο-μπλογκς αλλά άλλο ένα καλό θα κάνει παρά κακό. Είναι ένα μπλογκ για βιβλία σε εμβρυακή κατάσταση και ελπίζω να μην εξελιχθεί σε τερατογένεση...
Ο στόχος μου άρα είναι να το κρατήσω ζωντανό ή νεκροζωντανό (άγνωστοι αι βουλαί του μυαλού μου) μέχρι το τέλος του 2017 και όχι μόνο. Το μπλογκ ονομάζεται ΒιβλιοΑλχημείες. Ναι θυμίζει λίγο τις Γλυκείες Αλχημείες του Παρλιάρου.

■ΔΕΝ, και επαναλαμβάνω, ΔΕΝ πρόκειται να έχω να διαβάσω βιβλίο άνω των 300 σελίδων μετά τις 24 του Δεκέμβρη διότι η εορταστική περίοδος απαιτεί περισσότερο κοινωνικές παρά βιβλιοαναγνωστικές δραστηριότητες με αποτέλεσμα ένα βιβλίο να ξεκινά το Δεκέμβρη και να τελειώνει τον Ιανουάριο του 2017, εφιάλτης για την τελειομανία μου.

■Έθεσα το Goodreads Reading Challenge μου στα 90 βιβλία, άρα περιττό να πω ότι στόχος μου είναι να διαβάσω τουλάχιστον 90 αλλιώς θα θέλω να κάνω παράνομες αλλαγές στον αριθμό.

■Το 2017 θα διαβάζω τον Μαύρο Πύργο του Stephen King, επ' ευκαιρίας της κινηματογραφικής ταινίας που θα βγει τον Ιούλιο. Ένα βιβλίο το μήνα, ξεκινώντας με το 1ο The Gunslinger σήμερα.
Το project (DTProject2017) είναι ιδέα της Καναδής BookTuber Emily Cait

Μιας και το Instagram ουδέποτε σ' αφήνει να κάνεις λινκ τις φωτογραφίες του εδώ θα δείτε τα βιβλία μου για τον Ιανουάριο

Since The Classic Horror Stories which was going to be my last Halloween read, hasn't arrived yet, I'm moving on to November's Marathon which is Children's Literature.
Lesley over at WordsofaReader is hosting this marathon for the 3rd year, I think, and I'm taking part this year as well.

I see this marathon as a chance to read more from my spinster books (books with a long shelf life) and hence reduce my TBR.
Lovecraft can wait in the vaults of Cyprus Post for the time being.

The Books:


Hors d'oeuvre


It's the first part of this nostalgic series that takes place in a magical forest and we see forest animals (woodland folk) enjoying their lives in the woods. They build an apartment complex on a rotten oak tree, they convert a giant's shoe into a cruise ship and more.


In this second part of the series the woodland folk meet the gnomes (dwarfs in Greek, since we don't have a different word for gnomes) and the gnomes have more clever ideas on how to live (wine, elevator, medicine &c.)


The Giants arrive and everybody is scared, but one of the giants just wants their help so there's no need for panic. I was always wondering whether the giants were normal men or really tall men that look gigantic in front of the gnomes and the animals.


This is one of the few children's books I've read that has deaths in it. A pretty bold move which made this book one of the favourites in this series. Now we are introduced to the fairies that come from an even more magical land.


In the fifth book we meet the elves who are pretty naughty but they're pretty clever also. In this book we meet the only true antagonists of the series. The Guzznags. They're black and smaller than the gnomes and really bad, not just naughty.


The 1st half of the last book of the series takes place mainly in the Dragonland and the 2nd half is the war between all the previous characters and the dragons/dinosaurs.


Main dish


A Mole, a Rat, a Badger and a Toad live like humans (motorcars, caravans) and this sounds pretty interesting. An Edwardian children's book that was written by Kenneth Graham who wrote less than 6 books.



I started reading this book back in 2010 but for reasons unknown I dnf-ed it, so I'm going to finish it this November, 6 years later. I don't think I need to say more about Treasure Island which is written by Robert Louis Stevenson the author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It's a story with pirates!


Not many people are happy with this book, because many say it has some controversial /religious themes in it, but I'm going to read it anyway because I need to clean my TBR. Charles Kingsley was a priest, so I'm expecting tons of religious views in this book.


So, if you are thinking in taking part in this marathon, please use #ReadKidsLit (on YouTube, Instagram) in order to see who's participating and what they're reading.
Happy Reading, K.

Πρώτο: Λόγω του ότι το ποστ για τον Μαραθώνιο Αφρικανικού βιβλίου έχει κάπως παλιώσει για να είναι το πρώτο πράγμα που βλέπει κάποιος στο προφίλ μου και,

Δεύτερο: η χάλια κάμερα του χάλια (δανεικού) κινητού μου είναι τόσο χάλια που η φωτογραφίες φαίνονται σαν πίνακας του Μονέ· μετράς δηλαδή τα πίξελς, και,

Τρίτο: το άχρηστο κινητό μου δε 'σηκώνει' την εφαρμογή Instagram,
αποφάσισα έτσι να περιγράψω τα βιβλία π' αγόρασα χθες αντί να τα φωτογραφήσω.

Πήγα χθες για δεύτερη φορά στο παζαράκι μεταχειρισμένου βιβλίου στη Λάρνακα, με βιβλία κυρίως στ' Αγγλικά αλλά και άλλες γλώσσες. Όλα τα βιβλία ήταν στην εξευτελιστική τιμή των €0,50 με εξαίρεση τα hardbacks που ήταν στο €1,00. Την πρώτη φορά αγόρασα 12 αυτή τη φορά αγόρασα 5.

ΤΑ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ:

1)
The Luminaries
Βιβλίο που ήθελα ν' αγοράσω διότι θέλω να διαβάσω κάτι κι από Νέα Ζηλανδία, και το ότι αγόραζα βιβλίο με σκληρό εξώφυλλο, βάρους πάνω από 1 κιλό, και 800 σελίδες συν το ότι έχει ενσωματωμένο σελιδοδείκτη κορδέλα το βρήκα καλή ευκαιρία.


2)
The Shadow Of The Wind
Έχω ακούσει τόσα γι' αυτό το βιβλίο και εδώ και στο booktube και με το που το είδα το άρπαξα σαν γυπαετός. Περιμένω πολλά απ' αυτό το βιβλίο.


3) Cloud Atlas
Άλλο ένα βιβλίο που κυνηγούσα σαν αρπακτικό. Πολλοί το περιέγραψαν ως το αγαπημένο τους βιβλίο. Για να δούμε τι θα μου πει εμένα.


4)
The Women of Tijucopapo
Είναι γνωστή η πετριά μου να διαβάζω βιβλία απ' όλο τον κόσμο και με το που είδα ότι το βιβλίο είναι βραζιλιάνας συγγραφέως είπα:
Ευκαιρία να διαβάσω και κάτι από Βραζιλία για Βραζιλία που ΔΕΝ είναι Κοέλιο.


5)
Sjöjungfrun
Είδα την γοργόνα της Καμίλα Λεκμπεργ για πρώτη φορά στα Ελληνικά (τη μητρική μου γλώσσα) και δεν το πήρα και τώρα το βλέπω στη μητρική γλώσσα της συγγραφέως (Σουηδικά) και το πήρα. Πείτε με μαζοχιστή αλλά εδώ και 1 χρόνο μαθαίνω Σουηδικά και ξέρω 50-100 λέξεις στα Σουηδικά αλλά αυτό δε σημαίνει ότι είμαι έτοιμος να διαβάσω σουηδική αστυνομική λογοτεχνία στα Σουηδικά. . . Είμαι σίγουρος ότι θα το τελειώσω όταν ανοίξει ΙΚΕΑ στο Άγιο Όρος.

ΥΣΤΕΡΟΓΡΑΦΟ:
Πήρα επίσης και 3 βιβλία για την ξαδέλφη μου, που της κόλλησα το μικρόβιο του βιβλιοσκώληκα εδώ και καιρό, η οποία ήταν παρών στο προηγούμενο παζαράκι και όχι σ' αυτό.

1)
The Lord of the Rings
Έκδοση του 2001

2)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Πρώτη έκδοση με μαλακό εξώφυλλο του 2008

3)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Μυθιστορηματοποίηση (novelisation) της 2ης ταινίας.

Το καλύτερο δώρο είναι να φθάνουν τα βιβλία που παράγγειλες, την μέρα των γενεθλίων σου.

Κατουριέσαι απ' τη χαρά σου. . .

Και, ναι, βιβλία από Αφρική αυτό το μήνα. Μια παραμελειμένη αναγνωστικά ήπειρος.



9 βιβλία σύνολο

7 μυθιστορήματα

2 ανθολογίες ποίησης



Είναι τα εξής, με βάση τον αριθμό σελίδων:

1] Under the Frangipani Χώρα: Μοζαμβίκη, Γλώσσα: Πορτογαλικά

2] Disgrace Χώρα: Νότιος Αφρική, Γλώσσα: Αγγλικά

3] In the Country of Men Χώρα: Λιβύη Γλώσσα: Αγγλικά

4] A Grain of Wheat Χώρα: Κένυα, Γλώσσα: Αγγλικά

5] Lyrics Alley Χώρα: Σουδάν, Γλώσσα: Αγγλικά

6] My Father's Wives Χώρα: Αγκόλα, Γλώσσα: Πορτογαλικά

7] Half of a Yellow Sun Χώρα: Νιγηρία, Γλώσσα: Αγγλικά

8] The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry 27 χώρες

9] The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse 19 χώρες



Σύνολο: 48 χώρες σε Αφρική και Καραϊβική.

Όλος ο Αύγουστος, (και υπολογίζω και οι αρχές του Σεπτέμβρη) θα είναι μέρες αναγνωστικού μαραθώνιου αφρικανικού βιβλίου και αφρο-καραϊβικής ποίησης. Πολύ διάβασμα!

Μπορείτε να δείτε τα βιβλία φωτογραφημένα στον λογαριασμό μου στο Instagram →

A photo posted by Kyriakos Sorokkou (@risky_oak.s_book_den) on Aug 5, 2016 at 2:38am PDT

Σε 2 μέρες έχω γενέθλια. Πλέον δε χαίρομαι τόσο πολύ όσο παλιά (μαμά, γερνάω, μαμά.
)
αλλά τουλάχιστον βρίσκω την ευκαιρία να αγοράσω βιβλία με καλή δικαιολογία (γιορτάζω).

Έτσι, σε 2-3 μέρες θα έχω ένα κουτί με 9 βιβλία. 8 από αυτά θα είναι από μια ήπειρο εκτός Ευρώπης. Η εικόνα κάτω θα σας βοηθήσει να μαντέψετε.




Έτσι, ο Αύγουστος θα είναι ο μήνας του «Μαραθώνιου _________ Βιβλίου». Ποίηση, νουβέλες και μυθιστορήματα. Δεν βλέπω την ώρα!

Υστερόγραφο 1:

Όταν έρθουν τα βιβλία αν θέλετε θα μπορείτε να τα δείτε στο λινκ που θα μπει
">εδώ.

Υστερόγραφο 2:

Σκέφτομαι να κάνω μπλογκ βιβλίου στο wordpress, «διαβάζοντας τον κόσμο»

Κυριάκος a.k.a. Risky_Oak

Why the Turks crossed the Sea




Today (20/07/16) at 5:29 am, I was still awake searching for books on Amazon. And suddenly I heard the air raid sirens. They were sounding for a minute. No war happened today, but on this day at 05:30 am, Turkey invaded Cyprus 42 years ago (1974) with the wretched excuse of protecting the Turkish Cypriots, Yeah right; protecting innocent Turkish Cypriots by killing innocent Greek Cypriots. This ain’t a peace operation a.k.a. "Cyprus Peace Operation" or in Turkish (Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtı)



A woman in her late 80’s lives opposite my house. Her son is STILL missing. He was no more than 19 years old when he was fighting the Turks. . . .
I’m not a historian or a political analyst but the British in the 50’s began distilling discord between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, then they gave us a shared-tricky-trap-like republic in 1959 and four years later (1963) the intercommunal troubles began. In 1967 there was a coup in Greece and with the blessing of CIA they led a coup in Cyprus as well, on the 15th of July 1974.
5 days later (20th July) Turkey invaded. So this is the reason why I fear the word nation and its derivatives: nationalist, nationalism, &c. There’s a poem on page 60 in my 2nd poetry collection (Eight Birds and Other Poems) that talks about nation-

I fear the word nation

I fear the word nation.
I don’t hate my nation.
But loving a nation might lead to
loving it too much.
Nationalism is a word to describe that.
In German it sounds like Nazi
Nationalismus
It’s not love of your country
It’s to hate the outsiders
Patriotism is a safer word
But still you have to treat it with caution
My country is not superior.
It’s special but not the best
My sandy language is one of the most important
But not the best and most ancient
I love my country but I’m not a patriot
I love my country but I’m not a nationalist
I’m not superior to anyone.


Reading it more than a year later it feels juvenile and a bit naïve. But the ideas are genuine; but I might disavowed it when I grow older just like what C. P. Cavafy did with many of his poems. Greek poet Cavafy was a good friend with English novelist E. M. Forster. Forster knew Cavafy personally and he wrote a memoir of him. Both homosexuals. . .

Anyway. . . It seems I’m taking the subject elsewhere. The subject(s) here (do we actually have a subject here anyway?) is poetry, nationalism, Turkish invasion in Cyprus on this day. . .

I was a soldier for 2 years (2005-2007) (wasn’t writing poetry back then), and every day every hour we were observing every move of the Turkish occupying army. I was handling top secret documents in my own office with Bob Marley as background music. Bob Marley is pretty well appreciated in the Cypriot army (both for his songs and his smoking habits) haven’t smoke myself but inhaled as a bystander a few times [...] [...] [...]

You can read the rest of the article at my friend's blog, performance poet David Williams blog Shark Fishing in Wales

Since I'm not on booktube (too shy for the time being), I'm posting my July's Authorathon here.

This will be a dual challenge:

1st challenge will be 4 books written by Cypriot authors
2nd challenge will be the actual authorathon containing 2 of the 4 Cypriot books.

2 books will belong to both challenges
2 books will belong to the first challenge only, and the rest
4 books will belong to the second challenge only

Cypriot Authors Challenge x)
1) Στραβοτιμονιές (Life's Swerves) A collection of seven short stories about families, children, food and life in general.

2) Δέκα Ορφανά Παραμύθια (Ten Orphaned Fairy Tales) A collection of 10 fairy tales that are interconnected with each other (that's what I think)

July's Authorathon x]

3) and 1] Read a debut author (2015 or 2016):
Η Αϊσέ πάει διακοπές (Ayşe goes on holidays) A book published in 2015 by debut author Constantia Sotiriou. It is about the saturated theme of Turkey's invasion in Cyprus in 1974. Hope this book takes a different / original approach.

4) and 2] Read a new-to-you author:
Ανάμεσα σε δυο ποτάμια: (Between Two Rivers) a book about the hardships of mountainous people in Cyprus in the 1930's. The interesting thing is that the dialogues are in Cypriot Greek, a pretty rare thing to find in novels, even by Cypriot writers.

3] Read a book by a favourite author:
The Dark Half What a surprise! My 20th Stephen King book.

4] Give an author a second chance:
Pride and Prejudice
Can't stand Jane Austen, honestly, especially romance in general. That's the second and last change I'm giving her! I studied this book at university, but never actually read it from cover to cover.

5] Read a book written by more than one author:
Grimm's Fairy Tales Collected by 2 brothers. Tales created from lots of people over the centuries = that means more than 2 authors. Not a fan of fairy tales but. . .

6] Read a book from an author who is from a different continent than you are:
Since I'm from Cyprus, a country that geographically belongs to Asia, and politically and culturally belongs to Europe, I can't choose books from either Europe or Asia, so it's South America for me and Gabriel García Marqués' Greek edition of the Love in the Time of Cholera Ο έρωτας στα χρόνια της χολέρας. Read his other book (One Hundred Years of Solitude), really liked it and it's part of my top 20 books.

So, that's it. I'm beginning this challenge on the 1st of July and everybody's welcome to do it.

So, why don't I read book series?
Because I'm getting older.


Well let's be more precise. Why I (rarely) buy and read unfinished series?
Because 1) I am a very impatient person. 2) I will eventually forget what happened (I'm talking about the details) in the previous instalment so when a new book comes out I'll have to read the whole series once again, if this is not the final book I might read the whole series one more time. I read "Eragon" 3 times, one on its own, one with "Eldest", one with "Brisingr" and one last time with "Inheritance" (when I start it)
So, I will wait for the series' cycle to close and then read the series.



Exceptions to this rule are:
•Harry Potter
•A Song of Ice and Fire (If I waited for George R.R. Martin to complete the series and then read the books I would be an old withered man)
•The Passage by Justin Cronin (I've only read the 1st book. Don't remember many things. It was a depressing read though and I didn't know it was a series in the first place),and
•Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) by Christopher Paolini (I remember absolutely nothing from the 3rd book Brisingr).
So, (unfinished) book series like:
• Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith,
•Bill Hodges Trilogy(?) by Stephen King,
•The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss and others won't be on my TBR list until their completely finished!

For almost 5 years (2011-2016) Michael Crichton was my most read novelist. He is now tied with Stephen King at 18 books. When I'll finish reading Gerald's Game, in less than a week, S. King will be my most read author at 19 books.

It was September 1993, two months after the release of the film: Jurassic Park; and it was my first day at primary school and I saw a student holding a book about dinosaurs, with Jurassic Park's logo on it. Since then I wanted to find this book so bad. Almost 20 years later (2011) after watching the movies dozens of times, I managed to read the book along with its sequel The Lost World. Then I discovered that M. Crichton wrote a variety of books, (historical, legal, aliens, fantasy, technology, environmental, crime, Victorian, pirates e.t.c)

So I started reading book after book until I read all of his books with the exception of his John Lange books and his non-fiction ones. Unfortunately he died in 2008 so I won't read any more from him.
But that won't stop me from (re)reading his novels again and again. Ah! Ah! Ah! It won't stop me.

In October 2011 I started recruiting students for a reading rehearsal of my play A handkerchief spotted with strawberries.

It was a play on the wings of Shakespeare's Othello but from a Cypriot perspective since Shakespeare uses Cyprus just as an exotic place, far away from Venice were the foreigner Othello can have power over the Venetians.
The scene was at a sea port in Cyprus. Was it Limassol, Larnaca, or Famagusta? The latter is more likely. So I inserted a historical context in the play, Cypriot protagonists, and a Stoppard-ian feeling.

It echoes of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead which was on the wings of Hamlet, again with shifted perspective
The play was staged at the European University Cyprus in May 2012. It wasn't what I call a success but it was a fascinating experience and I'd like to do it again.

This is the poster for the play's production.
Image courtesy to Gareth Christodoulou.