Welcome to Litsy!

Skylark was the best read in January, well-written, with a bittersweet and unexpected ending. However, I must mention the most harrowing book I read, that I still occasionally think about - The Discomfort of Evening.

#12booksof2025

This was very interesting. At times the author treated the uneducated people who strived to raise their social status through communism with condescension. Saying that some people were promoted past their knowledge and talents was redundant. Monied people are also promoted in error😳.The bits about the Polish Home Army and the clergy were packed with insight. Communism in Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslavakia, and Poland is described in depth.

I always read the Booker winner, but I had a hard time finding this one. Hubby found it in a bookstore in Ireland. It arrived yesterday all the way from Galway. I hope it was worth the hunt. It‘s on my TBR for those lazy holiday pajama days. #BookMail

I dipped my toe into our latest Nobel winner. Yeah, long sentences with no clear purpose until later. This is a short playful one on the anxiety of fleeing. Just fleeing. No cause, no identity other than Croatian ports. No explanation until the very end. I struggled a little. I was entertained. I‘m a little intimidated about reading more by him. This one is a collaboration with illustrator and a musician.

The book follows Istvan through various stages of his life. He says little more than “yeah” or “okay.” In one sense it‘s easy to read; very short blunt sentences, little in the way of dialogue. In another sense it‘s hard to read; who is Istvan, what is he thinking? Yet of course, this is the point. Definitely a book that benefits reading a review or two as you go along I think. In short - odd and intriguing, glad I read it, glad it‘s finished.

2✨ I‘m going to say “meh” for this one. It has hunting, soldiers, and an adventure to find the White Stag provided by their gods. By the end we learn of Attila the Hun‘s birth and development to be the man that many of us have probably heard of. #Roll100 @PuddleJumper

This is why I follow the Women's Prize each year more than any other.

I enjoyed this. As others have said the writing style is paired down and sparse. I think that reflects both the idea of the Eastern European and the Man. This is a character study and can be taken quite philosophically.
It is also a bit depressing! István goes along to get along and that leads to some really unfortunate situations. I really appreciate how Szalay portrayed mental health in aan we would assume avoids it.

I finished this just b4 the prize announcement. I see the merit in the life story of Istzan, a Hungarian immigrant, + found the book v absorbing but I dont know if I actually liked the book. Its a book abt modern masculinity, so he is monosyllabic drawn into sexual relationships and struggles to express his feelings, including significant losses. It certainly is a book to discuss in a time where toxicity of negative male influences is prevalent.