My Virtual World

Being on vacation and enjoying unlimited access to Internet, I can't not to notice how it created all of us into kind of prisoners of it. When I'm sailing I rarely have chance to browse and enjoy my interests as much as now when I don't have to walk around looking for Wi Fi. Nowadays it makes you wonder how did we ever lived without it earlier - back than we read much more I guess - even though I am aware that there are probably far more creative ways one can enjoy free time (taking a walk or simply being outside of the house, for one thing) the obsessive pleasure of living in virtual world is too tempting. We are somewhere in there, soaking all sorts of information in, leaving our comments and getting all worked up about things and people we actually never met. Take for example my virtual friend Ray Charles who is cute dog living somewhere in USA - he was born blind and usually these animals get killed but this one was lucky to get adopted by loving family who absolutely adores him and provided him with a loving home. Not only me but thousands of other people daily follow his life, photographs and adventures - now when we read that his best friend died it saddened us all to degree that I had to stop for a moment and remind myself it happens every day. But it reminded me to enjoy every moment with my dogs. 

Recent frenzy created around dentist who killed that lion in Africa actually scared me - what I think about hunters is completely beside the point here - the fury and anger that media so clearly, deliberately focused on one person reminded me on lynch mob and I couldn't help but question the dangerous power of media. Clearly this man deserves some sort of fine or punishment (or at least bad reputation) but the murderous anger that has now being focused at him, his home address and everybody associated with him is startling. Sure, most of us despise him but I also feel just a little sorry for the guy who was obviously swindled into this (he would not have been able to get to that lion in the first place if greedy locals didn't help him) so there is much more to the story that people realise and it seems everybody is very quick to judge without getting deeper into story besides just looking at pictures and reading the titles. And this is where Internet comes along as dangerous because it creates one sided opinions, arguments and judgements based on impulsive reactions of people with short attention span. This guy might end being killed now because everybody hates him so much and I always had repulsion against mass that is turning onto one person - as much as I despise hunters, I am equally against lynching mobs no matter what are the circumstances. Just imagine yourself being reviled by media and the whole world turning against you without ever giving you a chance to speak for yourself - it must be a nightmare and this guy (deservedly) lives in one right now. He should be fined and forbidden to enjoy his hobby but it is time to stop now before somebody actually kills him. At least we are questioning some deep moral issues and who knows, we might even come to the point where weapons will be forbidden, hunting will be outlawed and maybe even human race will eventually leave animals alone. How long would they live if we don't treat them as a trophy/experiments/pets/food is another question. 

"Spy" by Paul Feig (2015)

I have problems with comedy genre because too often I don't find big hits funny at all - my favourites were always some off-the-wall, left field forgotten camp treasures that no one has ever heard of and I'm glad to say that for once finally I enjoyed a new cinematic big comedy hit, it is hilarious.

Where this year we have "Kingsman: The Secret Service" that pokes fun at James Bond genre, "Spy" offers different approach - here the main hero (who is James Bond wannabe) is unlikely, plump and clumsy Melissa McCarthy (who is absolutely adorable) head over heels in love with secret agent Jude Law who naturally is not even aware of her. When her object of desire disappears in action, McCarthy somehow wiggles herself into action and creates mayhem everywhere she turns up - more or less all the comedy is about poking fun at her being such unwitting heroine of action but instead of cruel jokes we are actually laughing along with her, because McCarthy shows unexpected bravery and is bouncing enthusiastically at enemies. In the best cinematic tradition, she even gets herself a sidekick who is far clumsier than herself (excellent Miranda Hart) and there are some brilliant parts by Peter Serafinowicz , Jason Statham and fierce, spoiled heiress Rose Byrne. I don't remember when was the last time I laughed so much out loud during the movie. 

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" by Matthew Vaughn (2015)

Unexpectedly entertaining movie - honestly, I assumed this will be just another run-of-the-mill action boom-bang-a-bang but it turned out it was compulsive watching with lots of humour that affectionately pokes fun at James Bond. It has all the ingredients of usual clichés (elegant mentor leading young unknown and green talent trough procedures that would create another super-hero) and it works wonderfully as everybody obviously had lots of fun while making this, specially Colin Firth who for once steps out of the box where directors so often forced him to be just another romantic lover in historical costumes - you can clearly see his joy of being allowed to do something different and here, for a change he is a bad ass who fights, breaks bones left and right and all of this without ever losing his suave posture. His young protege  is Eggsy (Taron Egerton) who metamorphoses from poor London boy in sneakers into another elegant secret agent and has just the right charisma to carry on the rest of the movie. There are also obligatory celebrities (Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine) but honestly the movie would work with anybody in these roles. There is no point in taking this movie seriously and trying to find any deep meaning - critics are collectively praising it for being entertaining, funny, full of action and lots of car crashes so it is really a good, old fashioned cinematic action extravaganza that screams for sequels.

"The Hundred-Foot Journey" by Lasse Hallström (2014)

This is the cutest movie I have seen in cinema last year and last night again, because I wanted to show it to my friends (who loved it and reacted exactly as I hoped). For some reason I had not mentioned it here so now I need to correct it.

Helen Mirren was the main reason why I went to see this one and it was delightful. 

It turned out to be just right combination of ingredients (food, France, good actors, bittersweet story) that works for me - some complained that it was too nice and predictable but if you ask me, I am well and truly saturated with cinematic violence, brutality, explosions and all that meaningless murders/detective/police clichés and welcomed this cute, little slice of real life like a breath of fresh air. How refreshing to finally experience something that is sophisticated enough that deliberately brings message trough light-hearted approach without being preachy and avoids ugliness - everything looks beautiful, food is juicy, scenery magical, little French town is inviting, actors are attractive and charismatic, it leaves you uplifted and feeling good. I have no problems with feel-good movies and if this is cinematic comfort food, please bring more of the same.

The story is cute: displaced Indian family in search of the new start gets stuck in the middle of little French town and they decide to open restaurant right opposite of snooty competition, where Helen Mirren rules with iron fist and leads her own classy, upscale dining heaven (awarded with Michelin star). Before long it turns into a war between newcomers and those who hold on to the tradition - nobody is truly evil here and both sides show delightful humanity that finally brings everybody together. Even if it does feel predictable occasionally, it is still a wonderfully warm-hearted movie that benefits from excellent cast. Both Helen Mirren and Om Puri are absolutely adorable.  

40 Trashy Novels You Must Read Before You Die

40-trashy-books-that-are-actually-worth-reading/

Jack Kerouac

Bessie (2015) Original Soundtrack

When some four decades earlier the soundtrack of "Lady sings the Blues" became best-seller, there were many who complained that Diana Ross doesn't sound like Lady Day at all. On the other hand, the soundtrack served quite nicely as reminder about legendary Jazz singer and revived her cult status in media so in my opinion it was a good thing after all, because it inspired listeners to check out original 1940s recordings. It was, after all, artistic impression of that music and if I remember correctly, somewhere at the start of that movie, you could hear kind-like down & dirty Bessie Smith impersonator as this was what young Billie heard around whorehouses that she cleaned in Baltimore. Personally I never found any fault with that soundtrack, except that I always preferred original sources.

Same for this soundtrack that now finally brings Empress of the Blues to movie screens: it is a (very careful) impression of once popular music from almost a century ago. It is surely very far removed from what we hear as popular music nowadays, for one thing early 1920s Blues was very slow, sassy and had its own rules - once you hear original recordings of not just Bessie but all her contemporaries, you notice that music was very much alike, it was hypnotising, seductive, sexy and full of attitude but it definitely followed certain rules. Personally I must admit that I love these ancient recordings very much and at certain point of my life had collected quite a lot of it, because I always found them magical and timeless. The old, muddy sound of primitive recordings never bothered me, in fact it gave them even more stardust because they were time capsule of a world long gone. 

Soundtrack of "Bessie" will definitely work for audience new to the phenomenon and story of this majestic singer - the music was carefully re-created and every now and than we are treated with original, remastered sound of 1920s artists like Louis Armstrong, Sippie Wallace and Fats Waller. (Dirty song by Lucille Bogan was heard in the movie but is not included here). Several artists are also heard singing new versions of these old Blues classics and without exception they are all more convincing than Queen Latifah: she did great acting job and suggest right spirit, attitude and Amazon-like spirit but vocally she can't even touch that massive power that real Bessie once had and we can't really blame her for that - after all, even in her time Bessie Smith towered above competition and in all history of recorded music only Gospel queen Mahalia Jackson came close to that sound (which in itself is curiosity that suggest the link between sin and religion, similar source that fuelled deep roots of universal human emotions). I admire Latifah's bravery for attempting this heroic task, but when you hear electronic duet between herself and the original ("Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer") you clearly hear the difference between artistic impression and the real thing. New listeners might be intrigued, however I have lived with original music for decades and they will always be my first choice.

Joe Mikulec

Slice of cinematic fast-food

You might be a gourmet who enjoy sophisticated, chosen delicacies but once in a while you might just desire fast food and some nasty, greasy fast food. Same for the movies: as much as I love deep thoughts, universal messages about life & truth, brilliant acting and something mind-boggling, occasionally I am just in the right frame of mind for simply entertaining bite of Pizza. Last night was just perfect, I was enjoying drinks with good friends in relaxed company and we gulped not one, but two movies like this. Just a perfect summer night. Silly movies, mosquito's and beer.

The whole plot of "The Lazarus Effect"(2015) was already shown in a trailer, which prompted me to question the point of watching the movie - instead of intriguing its potential audience, trailer had basically shown everything. WTF? Its kind of science fiction horror film with group of young scientists who experiment on serum that might bring animals from death. One cliché follows another and if you have ever watched any movies in your life, you might recognise zillion ideas stolen from different corners of cinema history, from Frankestein onwards. We simply know what follows next, that reanimated dog will behave strangely, that catholic religion will be involved somehow, that there will be fires and explosions, you name it, its here. I am not even sure this is not a parody. Critics loved to slam this movie with brutal reviews and its easy to poke fun at it but actually I think people take themselves sometimes too seriously - this is good, old-fashioned fun and it needs to be taken as such. How else to approach the movie about mad scientists, revived corpses and so on - you know what you are getting yourself into, the moment when you start watching something like this where group of young and pretty, fresh-faced lab technicians play around with the needles and serums. What probably upset all these critics (and audience) is the missed opportunity to dive into more serious questions of moral issues of such experiments and how right or wrong we might be when playing with nature, however this was not directors intention so all we got was lots of screams in the dark, fires and explosions. 

"District 9" (2009) turned out far better than I expected, mainly because the story cleverly plays on parallel with real-life apartheid history of South Africa. When gigantic space ship gets stranded afloat Johannesburg, alien creatures are locked up in a ghetto, treated with cruelty and contempt, local criminal gangs quickly proceed to make business with them and not only humans call them degrading names but at certain points government decides to re-locate them in another place (basically concentration camp) in order to be less visible to our sensitive eyes. This had actually happened in 1960s Cape Town when 60,000 people were forcibly removed from District 6 which was declared "white only" zone. Replace word "aliens" with any ethnic minority and the parallel is all clear. Where movie is original is in presenting how its main character (silly and selfish official Wikus van de Merwe) unwittingly falls into the trap and becomes one of the hunted himself. This sudden turn of perspective, where suddenly he sees and feels how it is to be a victim, is the heart of the movie. The story has certain similarities with "Avatar" in a sense that shows humans as cruel, greedy and easily manipulated with media and I must say it was all very cleverly done until certain point where it became just another big shooting/explosions extravaganza that director just couldn't resist. Special effects are naturally dazzling and the whole story just calls for a sequel.

"Bessie" by Dee Rees (2015)

Long-overdue and obviously made with good intentions, this TV biopic of legendary 1920s Blues queen suffers from usual script trouble: how to condense someone's life in a two-hour story without making it all like a cartoon. The project was already planned for decades, I remember media talking about possibility of this movie even in early 1970s, right after "Lady sings the Blues" and back than Roberta Flack (who was white-hot at the time) was considered for the main role. Not that Bessie was ever forgotten - "Columbia records" kept her complete works on the market, Janis Joplin paid for her gravestone, there were theatre plays and books about her life, notably by Chris Albertson who became world's greatest authority  on the subject (and was curiously ignored in making of this movie). It took four decades to finally have this biopic made and contrary to my great expectations, I am saddened that it all resulted with such a predictable stereotypical fantasy.

Ingredients are right: cast is spectacular and gives its best shot. Not just Queen Latifah in the main role and Mo'Nique (as Ma Rainey) but countless  actors playing the circle of lovers, husbands, boyfriends and relatives are impressive, particularly Khandi Alexander (as vicious cousin) who steals the scene every time she comes up on the screen. Clothing, scenery, visually everything works just fine and for a while you might even enjoy the thrill of re-created world of 1920s specially as actors are so sizzling and determined, there is a very fascinating insight into a long-gone segregated, brutal world of woman who escaped crushing poverty and became breadwinner for everybody around her. BUT (and there is a big but) even though ingredients are right and yes, it actually happen just as shown in the movie (it can be checked in her biography, yes she did spit out and was rejected on her first recording audition, yes she faced the Ku Klux Clan, yes Ma Rainey sang ""Black Bottom Blues", yes she travelled in her own train caravan) after a while script rushes so much that everything becomes one big blur of short episodes piled on top of each other to the point that it really seems like cartoon version of Bessie's life, short nuggets and photo shots. Concerts. Click. Racists. Click. Dominating boyfriend-turned-husband-turned-manager. Click. Bootlegged booze. Click. Fights. Click. Pale white boys interested to make money out of her. Click. She's bisexual. Click.

No doubt movie is fascinating for young audience who are finally introduced to artist and those who have never heard of this feisty lady and her contemporaries might be impressed to find out that almost a century ago there were proud black women fighting like lionesses for their own place in the world. Not everybody was a maid, washerwoman or prostitute - Bessie, Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Victoria Spivey, Lucille Bogan and Sippie Wallace (to name just a few) were heroines of their time and even though they represented "sin" it was still better option than to scrub the stairs in Baltimore. So on one side it works as reminder about important chapter in American history and kudos to good intentions, it might intrigue kids to search for original recordings.

Where the film fails is to dig just a little deeper under the surface and explain reasons for Bessie's behaviour - we all understand she was this brilliant artist but what we see in the movie is woman who drinks, fights, cusses and basically intimidates everyone around. It is a testament to Queen Latifah's acting that she suggests vulnerability hidden deep inside under all that bravado and there were few short scenes (mostly when she is alone with herself, coming home after the concerts) that glimpse in direction where this movie did not dare to go and which would work much better had the creators or script writers decided to explore her inner world instead of giving us point-by-point well-known snapshots. Curiously, film decidedly ends on a upbeat note, going so far to even present Bessie's triumph in Carnegie Hall (which never happened) and completely ignoring circumstances around her death. I have been living with her music for decades now so naturally after initial excitement about the movie I feel saddened that this big chance is missed now and since it took 78 years from her death for her story to finally reach the movie screen, I doubt that in my life I will see another attempt. 

46 Anniversary of the First Landing on the Moon

Since recently we had accomplished quite a impressive list of space explorations (Pluto, Mars, landing on the passing comet) its just fitting that now we celebrate the 46th anniversary of our very first landing on the Moon. It is a truly stunning feat, considering that for centuries everything went incredibly slow and now suddenly we are up there, sending all sorts of machines left and right, far beyond what was known previously. However, we did not really managed to send people further than the Moon. Not exactly sure why is it so and does it really matter, it just naturally places a question does it work the same way from (presumably) some other, alien side? I have no doubts whatsoever that there is a life somewhere out there in some kind of form, though would it be good for us to actually contact them is another question. Looking around here, in our own planet and history, every time one culture met the other, usually stronger one ruthlessly exploited and destroyed the weaker one. So who is to say we wouldn't be eaten or enslaved or simply destroyed by either chemical weapons or killed by alien germs (like Native Americans who died during first contact with European flu and such)? I am a bit suspicious about the contact because there is no 100% guarantee that alien life will be friendly and benevolent. 

Back to Apollo 11 and its landing on the Moon, on July 20, 1969: no doubt it was absolutely monumental achievement and the whole world held its breath until guys actually landed. Unless you count doubters who still refuse to believe it actually happened. Which for me is the same as people who refused to believe there was a Holocaust in Europe and claimed the pictures were faked. I still find all the pictures and movies made back than extremely exciting because for me there is no machine or robot that can match the real human contact with out-of-space territory. 

The names of three brave guys are Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin and in my mind they are on the same level as heroes from Greek mythology. 

"Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of "Inside Llewyn Davis"

One-night-only live concert performance where all-star folk aristocracy old & new celebrated the music that inspired 'Inside Llewyn Davis" movie about early days of New York Greenwich Village. Contrary to a intensely gloomy movie (which I loved) music here is joyous, virtuosic and perhaps more in tune with what we expect folk scene might have been - for everybody who complained that movie presented those times as too dark and depressing, this concert will be a revelation because its all about camaraderie, togetherness and collaborations. 

The idea behind the concert was to give each performers one old and one new song to show off their skills - that new songs often sound as they are ancient just proves that genre still has huge appeal and freshness, specially as this is mostly acoustic, kind of unplugged setting. As someone who had survived synthesisers and 1980s , to me this is surely wonderfully real music and no studio wizardry spoils effect of musicians creating magic on the spot. Apparently the audience shared my opinion because they yell, whoop and applaud the whole way trough the concert, it must have been great experience. There is a huge list of performers so it would be unfair to single out a particular name, however its a joy to hear people as awesome as Rhiannon Giddens whose passion and focus echo legendary Odetta. Obligatory cameo by elderly veterans (Joan Baez, Bob Neuwirth) are welcomed with great affection for what they once represented but at this point they are clearly past their prime and they can't match energy of their younger colleagues. Although at first it seems that Elvis Costello don't really belongs here, he is joy to hear as wonderful Oscar Isaac who was not only main focus of the movie but is actually surprisingly good singer. I dare anybody not to sing along when band joins him on refrain of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me".

Places: Hallstatt and Salzburg, Austria

Out of the blue, my friends here came up with idea let's go somewhere and as we usually do, this somewhere was something somebody had mentioned somewhere so it was about you know, that magical place in Austria. I googled "magical place in Austria" and got Hallstatt which is a tiny village near some mountain lake in Austria and off we went there fearlessly and guided with automatic navigation in the car. Hallstatt turned out to be truly prettiest little spot, very quiet and reflective, absolutely adorable postcard-like village situated on the mountain lake, I believe it was one of the prettiest places I have ever visited (and I am travelling for work so I am familiar with many vacation spots). Its usually on the lists of places you have to see before you die. Its completely pedestrian and you can walk from one end to another in 30 minutes. Lots of tiny little streets, rustic Austrian architecture, explosion of colours in the window seals (flowers everywhere), little church, shops with local products (interesting artifacts from salt, as this was a famous salt mine in the past), if locals are bothered with all these tourists, they don't show it. The road to Hallstatt was finally built in 1890 and until than this place could have been reach only by lake or mountain road, truly isolated from the rest of the world and you do have feeling that time stands still there. You can sit there, sip your cappuccino and relax while the world troubles and worries pass by.

Next morning we continued our journey and completely by accident found another lake (apparently there are lots of lakes around) with a cutest guesthouse where we enjoyed our morning coffee with a spectacular view. This lake is called Wofgangsee, than and there I decided that I prefer little mountain lakes and places to a crowded touristy coast line where you can't even find a space to sit down and locals are always unfriendly - here you really relax and enjoy + Austrians are really orderly people, even when there is a little beach spot, everything is so neat and arranged, no garbage anywhere, its truly heavenly. And a quiet everywhere, no sound coming or car or anything, just pure mountain air and water looking like a glass.

Salzburg did not impress me at all. Its good we went there because it was nearby but it was just another touristy place. Pretty Austrian architecture but you can see it elsewhere. If Mozart wasn't born there, I doubt anybody would bother to visit - while he lived there, locals didn't think much of him and in fact he was famously kicked out of town by some local big head, now the whole tourism is based on the fact that Salzburg happened to be his birthplace (he made career in Vienna and Prague, not here). Its a bit of Mozart overkill - all sorts of trashy souvenirs based on Mozart: ashtrays, famous candies, perfumes, shawls, aprons, you name it. After a while you get sick of too much Mozart trinkets. Of course we have seen his birthplace, his monument and the cathedral where he was christened but honestly, after 30 minutes there's nothing else in the old town (besides perhaps visit to a impressive fortress on top of town, however it was so hot that we just couldn't survive that adventure). We checked out pretty gardens around Mirabel palace and ended our tour in some beer garden, it was just unbelievably sizzling and hot day, you wouldn't expect Austria to be so hot. I am very pleased with this little journey, however mountain lakes and their little places were far more magical and impressive than Salzburg.

"Inside Llewyn Davis OST" (2013)

Well, the movie was haunting but one thing that confused me was that I wasn't sure is this a parody or sentimental look back at early 1960s folk trend - judging by soundtrack, it could be both. Repertoire here touches traditional songs as expected, with addition to some well-known folk chestnuts like "The Last Thing On My Mind" and "Five Hundred Miles" and actors pull of the singing surprisingly well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with singing voices of Oscar Isaac and his colleagues and I could listen them some more elsewhere (in fact, he did perform on live tribute concert to this movie). Most of the music here is decidedly downbeat as those songs used to be anyway and it makes sense because movie was serious itself - except wonderfully silly "Please Mr. Kennedy" that in the movie was a symbol of musicians compromising themselves for some quick buck, but here in studio version actually sounds great, uplifting and joyous. I believe versions here are not exactly the same as ones in the movie, because Stark Sands for example was wimpy in the movie and perfectly fine here. Inclusion of unreleased recording by Bob Dylan makes perfect sense, because it fits with the rest of the music. Surprisingly strong soundtrack.

Books, books and more books

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/07/13/the-antiquarian-bookshops-of-old-london/

This was a recent Internet discovery that reminded me on my passion for books, something that I always found so mysterious. Why is it that some people are simply born with passion for books, while other's won't even touch them once they are not forced anymore in the schools? I am almost sure it has to do with nurture or the simple fact was the love for reading encouraged in one's childhood. Than again, how about all those kids who grew up into readers without being encouraged to do so? Mystery of mysteries!

From my personal perspective, I think it was encouraged with my mother reading me all those children's books and buying me little books with gramophone records (from Disney stories) that functioned as simple audio books and usually added songs from the movies. Once I memorized all those read-along stories and songs about Aristocats, Bambi and Dumbo, it wasn't long before I dived into comics completely by myself and at the age of four nobody had to read me the adventures of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Popeye. Come start of the school, while other kids were learning how to spell, I was already far ahead and reading books. One of the main, life-changing experiences for me was when the sweet old neighbor lady (a retired teacher who recognized what kind of person little me was) gave me some cash to enter a public library (something that nobody in my family didn't think about) and I started to visit local library sometimes twice a week. Its also interesting to note that nobody in my close family thought about encouraging me to read and they just took it for granted - obviously its not just a nurture but one has to have natural predisposition for it, just like for sport or anything else. 

Maybe its an escapism, surely it is. As a kid I soaked in everything I could put my hands on, though must admit I have also read a lot of crap trough the years, which was necessary in order to hone my own personal taste. All those best-sellers in public libraries (Sydney Shelton, Harold Robbins) don't appeal to me at all anymore but hey, what did I know back than? Erich von Däniken thrilled me once, now I find him repetitive and slightly silly when compared to later similar writers. I clearly remember being tortured with the literature schools forced on us and I still believe this is the reason why lots of kids never experienced the thrill of reading - had they been offered something appropriate, like Alexandre Dumas, Jules Verne, Zane Grey, Karl May or Mark Twain they might have caught the bug, unfortunately most of us were bored to death with analyzing dour, sour and depressive stories written by artists acclaimed by academic circles (therefore not the popular ones) + there must be something abut teachers plowing uninspired trough daily routine. So I read what I had to for the school and than enjoyed Agatha Christie in my spare time. The first (and only) time when these two came together was when I encountered obligatory school task of reading Nobel winner Ivo Andrić whose "The Bridge on the Drina" turned out to be magnificent piece of art, but at that point I was already sophisticated enough to search for something different than just usual crime/thriller fluff. 

For the longest time, public libraries were my temples, as I never really had enough money or space to collect books by myself as a teenager. This is something my parents frowned upon (same as collecting music records) calling my hobby pointless, which reflects the atmosphere where I grew up. Later in life I made up my mind that this is something that makes me happy, its my own money and it doesn't hurt anybody. So when I think about the biggest loves/passions of my life its books, music and movies, in that order. When eventually I spread my wings across the borders of my geographical accident of birth and found wonderful bookshops around the world, I was a bit taken aback first - there were just so many different genres and subjects to explore, much more than my own Croatian public libraries could ever dream of. Out of curiosity I had dived head-on into celebrity biographies first, because this was something I never had before but eventually I found that non-fiction is my true pleasure, all about history, science and less known facts about our world. On the other hand, I am also aware of the classics so every now and than I remind myself that I have to read occasional classic, though often I do find them moth-eaten and than run back to something that appeals to me. I have quite voluminous book collection + tons of e-books at this point, probably much more than I can ever finish in this lifetime & lot of books still unread around me. At the moment I am struggling a little bit with "Famous Last Words" by otherwise brilliant Canadian writer Timothy Findley whose "Pilgrim" and "Not Wanted on the Voyage" I really loved before, but this one just fails to catch my interest and I am very close to just leave it. Books, like everything else, have their own moment and maybe I just need to wait for the right time. 

This Internet article is something that inspired my own essay here and its all about magical places around London, those Antiquarian shops where book lovers feel so thrilled - I never cared much for distinction between second-hand and new books, for me its all the same (in fact, I might even prefer second-hand books). One of the greatest pleasures of my world traveling is that I am familiar with the cities and know where to find a bookshops everywhere I go. On the other hand, it saddens me a lot that I don't really know many other book lovers because on daily basis I deal with people who refuse to read, complain they can't focus and simply have no habit of reading. Which I find so interesting - why is it so that books have no appeal to some, while others absolutely love them? One of my ship roommates told me he had never read a book in his life - he was a gym person who loved his biceps, triceps and healthy shakes, could and would not read anything even if you point a gun at him. 

From the top of my head, here is a list of some all-time favorites:

The Soul's Code (James Hillman)

Derviš i smrt (Meša Selimović)  

Embers (Sándor Márai)

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez)

The Once and Future King (T.H.White)

A World Lit Only by Fire (William Manchester)

Dune (Frank Herbert)

The Good Soldier Švejk (Jaroslav Hašek)

Alias Grace (Margaret Attwood)

My life (Isadora Duncan)

The Story of Mankind (Hendrik Willem Van Loon) 

Memoirs of Hadrian (Marguerite Yourcenar) 

The Five people you meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom)

Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell (Susana Clarke)

1491 (Charles C.Mann)

Blues people (LeRoi Jones) 

The World without End (Ken Follett) 

The Shadows of the wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafron) 

The Daughter of time (Josephine Tey)

Bolja prošlost (Petar Luković)

Supernatural (Graham Hancock)

Civilisation (Kenneth Clark) 

The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins) 

A short history of nearly everything (Bill Bryson)

Narcissus and Goldmund  (Herman Hesse) 

The Aleph and other stories (Jorge Luis Borges) 

Island at the centre of the world  (Russel Shorto)