Ilse’s Reviews > Berta Isla > Status Update
Ilse
is on page 72 of 576
Peace,alas,is only ever apparent and transitory,a pretense.War is the natural state of the world.Often it’s open warfare,but when it’s not,war is always there in latent or indirect form or is merely a war-in-waiting.There are large portions of humanity who are always trying to harm others,or to take something from them,and rancour and discord reign at all times, if not, then they’re in the wings, watching and waiting
— Apr 20, 2026 08:25AM
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Ilse’s Previous Updates
Ilse
is on page 289 of 576
All ages feel that their conflicts are equally serious, a matter of life and death. They consider that their circumstances justify extreme measures. Every age believes itself to be exposed to great dangers , and every age is prepared o break its own established rules and regulations , to feel constrained by its own restrictions and to find ways of ignoring them or getting round them .
— May 01, 2026 10:32AM
Ilse
is on page 263 of 576
That night I genuinely didn’t know what to do, but I did, of course, stay with Tomas. You would need to have lost an awful lot before you’d be willing to renounce what you have. You curb your impetuous urges , your expectations , you accept the somewhat tarnished version of what you were hoping to achieve or thought you had achieved , and besides, there are disappointments and imperfections at all stages of life .
— Apr 29, 2026 07:44AM
Ilse
is on page 164 of 576
As all we know, imagination is often far wilder than reality, even if it lacks the latter's precision and terrible force, so you can always dismiss what it tells you and say to yourself: 'That might well not have happened, and since I have no idea what really happened, nor ever will, why torment myself with conjectures?’
— Apr 27, 2026 06:22AM
Ilse
is on page 52 of 576
Those were the days of the so-called sexual liberation,which was permeated by the idea that there was barely any difference between having sex with someone and having a cup of coffee with them,as they were equivalent activities, &as if neither should leave behind any trace or sense of unease.(Even if no memory remains,the event does at least leave a trace, perhaps only in our knowledge &awareness that it did occur)
— Apr 18, 2026 04:41AM
Ilse
is on page 10 of 576
When she believed that her husband was her husband, she felt less at ease and found it harder to get out of bed and begin the day, she felt a prisoner of what she had so long been waiting for and which had now happened and for which she no longer waited, because anyone who has grown used to waiting never entirely consents to that waiting coming to a close, it’s like having half the air you breathe snatched from you.
— Apr 16, 2026 02:07AM
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Apr 20, 2026 08:47AM
Ik heb heb boek liggen, en ook al heb ik het opgenomen in mijn leesprogramma, is er een kleine kans dat ik er dit jaar aan toe kom. Er staat al best veel op (zie mijn GR-plank fnl-26). Marías vergt aandachtige lezing en dit is weer zo'n dikkerd van deze bij mij favoriete Spanjaard.
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This novel is two books to my right on a bookcase as I type. Thanks for the inadvertent reminder to read it; it's placed right after The Infatuations and before Thus Bad Begins (both by JM).
Jan wrote: "Ik heb heb boek liggen, en ook al heb ik het opgenomen in mijn leesprogramma, is er een kleine kans dat ik er dit jaar aan toe kom. Er staat al best veel op (zie mijn GR-plank fnl-26). Marías vergt vergt aandachtige lezing en dit is weer zo'n dikkerd van deze bij mij favoriete Spanjaard.Jan, ook al zijn er inderdaad een heel aantal boeken die je dit jaar wil lezen, ik kan je deze roman van je favoriete Spaanse schrijver alleen maar warm aanbevelen ( ik zou hem in één ruk uitlezen als ik geen verplichtingen had :)! Alleen begrijp ik nu wel dat ik nog een tijdje aan JM (grappig niet, dit zijn ook jouw initialen) zal vastzitten, Berta Isla en het volgende boek, Tomas Nevison, vormen een tweeluik, en te zeggen dat ik niet aan zijn trilogie durfde te beginnen omdat ik weet dan helemaal verloren te zijn ;)
Haha, toen Jeff eerder vandaag schreef, en mijn oog viel op: '(both by JM)' had ik de rest van zijn bericht nog niet gelezen. Mijn eigen recensies eindig ik doorgaans met JM - mooi toeval met die Spanjaard 'van ons'. Jammer genoeg is men er niet tijdig aan toegekomen om Marías de Nobelprijs toe te kennen.Zelf heb ik zijn trilogie gelezen - magistraal.
Tomas Nevinson heb ik ook liggen - dat wordt een flink blok tijd vrijmaken en aldus inruimen ...
Haha Ilse, I just started seriously reading Schopenhauer and he says the exact same thing early on: “History shows us the life of nations and finds nothing to narrate but wars and tumults; the peaceful years appear only as occasional brief pauses and interludes. In just the same way the life of the individual is a constant struggle, and not merely a metaphorical one against want or boredom, but also an actual struggle against other people. He discovers adversaries everywhere, lives in continual conflict and dies with sword in hand.”This is from “On the Suffering of the World.”
Noel wrote: "Haha Ilse, I just started seriously reading Schopenhauer and he says the exact same thing early on: “History shows us the life of nations and finds nothing to narrate but wars and tumults; the peac..."This is really interesting! The tone is a bit different, but it also makes me think of what the character Homer says in Wings of Desire:
My heroes are no longer warriors and kings, but things of peace, one just as good as the next. The drying onions as good as the tree trunk that grows in the marsh.
But no one has thus far succeeded in singing an epic of peace. What is wrong with peace that its inspiration doesn’t endure… and that its story is hardly told?
Jeff wrote: "This novel is two books to my right on a bookcase as I type. Thanks for the inadvertent reminder to read it; it's placed right after The Infatuations and before Thus Bad Begins (both by JM)."Jeff, happy to be of some service to you! I thought this even better than 'Thus Bad Begins' and hope to get my hands on 'Tomas Nevison' soonish as well: I need to know how the story continues - or doesn't continue...
Jan wrote: "Haha, toen Jeff eerder vandaag schreef, en mijn oog viel op: '(both by JM)' had ik de rest van zijn bericht nog niet gelezen. Mijn eigen recensies eindig ik doorgaans met JM - mooi toeval met die Spanjaard"Jan, ik vond het ook een fijn en grappig toeval :) Het zijn niet onmiddellijk boeken die je makkelijk meeneemt op de trein - ik hou altijd een dun en licht boekje klaar voor het korte woon-werktraject naar Brussel - al lijken het me ideale reisgenoten voor een urenlange treinrit, zo meeslepend schrijft hij wel. Tomas Nevison ligt intussen al te wachten, ook al zou ik beter beginnen met eerst het boek voor deze maand van de leesclub te lezen ;). En daarna, de trilogie!
Noel wrote: "Haha Ilse, I just started seriously reading Schopenhauer and he says the exact same thing early on: “History shows us the life of nations and finds nothing to narrate but wars and tumults; the peace."Seriously reading Schopenhauer? That sounds very serious, Noel 😊! Coincidentally I just read a piece on Virginia Woolf’s ‘Three Guineas’ (which I haven’t read yet, it seems the right moment to have a closer look at it). Apparently she embarrassed her friends with it– the timing ‘irresponsible and silly’ with regard to the threat of war and fascism, e.g. rejecting patriotism, her view that war is not an inevitable, abstract force or human nature, but rather a direct result of patriarchal structures, specific types of male education (would this imply that she thought it possible to prevent war by changing those structures and education?)
It seems that Schopenhauer’s view on war and peace has become the dominant belief on history, what do you think?
Maryana wrote: "My heroes are no longer warriors and kings, but things of peace, one just as good as the next. The drying onions as good as the tree trunk that grows in the marsh.But no one has thus far succeeded in singing an epic of peace. What is wrong with peace that its inspiration doesn’t endure… and that its story is hardly told?
Thank you for reminding me of the Wim Wenders film, Maryana - I must find time to finally watch it. On the epic of peace and peace being unable to inspire enduringly: what about looking at it the reserve way: isn't it because we dearly wish war is the exceptional situation that we cannot stop reading, writing, thinking about war - like doctors trying to cure illness instead of focussing on staying healthy and prevention?
Haha, “seriously reading” as in actually reading, and not simply thinking about reading 😁 Uh, I bristle at the idea that war is the world’s natural state—especially as distinguished from “rancor and discord.” Wouldn’t war be a very recent phenomenon, in relation to the time we’ve spent on the planet? What do you think? (I definitely don’t think that preventing war is a matter of changing education, though.)
