Most of us know at least the gist of the story of the Trojan war. But how much do we really know about the men and heroes who took part in it? Madeline Miller, jus tas in Circe, gives here the voice to a side character, but one who is at the heart of the …
it was easy to agree with the German poet Heinrich Heine, who allegedly said that if a war ever broke out he would head straight for the Netherlands, because 'everything happens fifty years later there'. Initially, I had been under the vague impression that it was one of those eco-friendly countries where environmental protection was …
Continue reading Why the Dutch are Different – Ben Coates – Quotes
I rarely, or never write here about politics. But this time I need to briefly mention Brexit to explain how I came about this book. In October with my Bigger Half we were going for a vacation in Crete. At that time the Brexit deadline was, very appropriately, Halloween. Understandably we had multiple discussions where …
Oh wow! What a book!...and yes, I am being completely, over the top, sarcastic about it. How lucky you are that it will probably never be translated into English. It truly is a feast of graphomania. At just over 500 pages, I think the editor gouged their eyes somewhere around page 200 (till then with …
Some people acquire the travel bug. Others are born with it. My affliction, if that’s what it is, went into remission for many years following my aborted expedition with Drew. It resurfaced after college with renewed fury. I desperately wanted to see the world, preferably on someone else’s dime. But how? I had no marketable …
Continue reading The Geography of Bliss – Eric Weiner – Quotes
I heard about this book in a bit unusual way. While I was at a Lean training in my corporate job, someone mentioned their friend reading it. The topic caught my interest: to travel the world in search of the happiest country an to understand what actually makes it so. Dutifully I acquired this book …
I think it's still not too late to do a brief summary of the last quarter of 2019. I am still getting used to saying we're in 2020, so I'll allow myself this tiny decadence of being late to the party. The quarter started beautifully, with my first trip to Greece. I fell in love …
