Books
Matt Ruff – LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
This one is a book we like a lot. Though it is difficult to tell you what it is about. I can try to give you just the starting point. Chicago 1954: Atticus is a young, black American and has just left the army when he discovers, his father is missing. Together with his uncle George and Letitia, a friend from childhood, they go on a search for his father. On this journey they get to know Caleb Brainwhite and the secret order of « The sons of Adam ». From there things start to get interesting and you are in for a wild ride of reading.
All this is set in a country, where the people are equal in the constitution but racism is a daily threat if your skin is not white. This is one of the horrors in this book. On the other side you have the friendship within the family of Atticus, who look out after each other.
Well, if you like fantastic stories, give it a try. In our attic, we all love this book.
David Graeber – DEBT – The first 5,000 years
This one is one of the most interesting and intelligent books I have ever read.
We told you about the humans, who go to work to earn money to pay for things. We understood this is part of what is called economy. Even in the newspapers there are sections about economy. David Graeber was an anthropologist. In this book he gives a very unconventional view about economy and how the basic concepts we all take for granted are not fitting with the archaeological findings how humans lived.
This is a rich book: full of findings and ideas. I could not follow or be convinced by all of them. But it was a lot of fresh air for the brain and stuff to think about. For sure this book is not a page turner and needs to be read slowly. It is not a hamburger, more of a raw veggie salad with a highly unusual dressing. Certainly, it is a book to read for a second time.
The Fan Brothers – The Barnabus Project
Barnabus, a little animal, half mouse, half elephant, lived in a secret laboratory hidden under the shop Perfect Pets.
He liked cheese and peanuts a lot and Pipa, the cockroach, used to tell him about the outside world. In that laboratory, they were creating fantastic creatures that humans considered perfect pets. But Barnabus was not perfect: he was not too furry, his trunk was short and his eyes were too small. That is why he was transferred together with many other small animals, to a department for failed projects. To be recycled. Barnabus liked himself, he did not want to be recycled. With his buddies from the department of failed projects, he planned to escape and look for a new home where they can be free and themselves.
This is a precious book, with beautiful illustrations and messages. To be perfect in the eyes of others is not important. The most important is to be yourself.
Bill Waterson – Calvin and Hobbes
What do you do when you are in the company of a genius? Well for Bill Waterson and his cartoon « Calvin and Hobbes » this is easy: just sit back, read and enjoy.
This cartoon was from 1985 to 1995 in daily newspapers. Luckily, it is also published in books and we can still enjoy to read it. Calvin is a little boy, who lives with his parents and his stuffed tiger Hobbes in a suburb of a North American city. When Calvin is alone, Hobbes shows his real personality because he is a real tiger, who is Calvin’s friend and companion of many adventures or boring hours of school homework. Let’s face it: often Calvin is not a nice kid, and we guess, his parents must really love him. But the way Calvin and Hobbes face daily life and enjoy it whenever possible or try to daydream an escape route is very funny, original. It makes you laugh, and often think, and in the end, you love them, and his parents and Susy Derkins (not Moe, though). If you have never read Calvin and Hobbes, do yourself a favor and read it. Any book of them is GREAT because Bill Waterson is a genius.