Amaryllis Belladonna

[amaryllis-dna]

safe place #aureilhan #sudouest #sudouest_focus_on #sunset #landes #france #safeplace (à Étang d'Aureilhan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR_JEPhqMpA/?utm_medium=tumblr

[amaryllis-dna]

last week in a pic un livre, l'océan... c'est The Year of the Flood de Margaret Atwood 👀 #bookstagram #books #margaretatwood #theyearoftheflood #reading (à Mimizan-Plage, Aquitaine, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ3ygd9pDkh/?utm_medium=tumblr

[amaryllis-dna]

Invitation au bonheur Avec une latence certaine, le temps de redescendre sur Terre. Un petit message pour remercier tous ceux qui ont fait partie de ces précédentes semaines. C'était le temps des premières et des dernières. Le temps de tourner la page et passer au prochain chapitre, qui nous réservera sûrement son lot de fous rires, de peurs, d'hésitations... dans quel ordre ? Je vous aime, fort. ps : @valantain_.cs @marine_qrvl vous savez à quoi vous attendre maintenant 😏 (et tous les copains de FIFA) #sidaction #parentisenborn #mimizan #concert #throwback #grateful #music #bac2021 #officedutourismemimizan @mimizantourisme @sidaction (à Mimizan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjlc5fHMyD/?utm_medium=tumblr

[amaryllis-dna]

Is Haruki Murakami an obsession ?

Hello folks, it's been ages since I've been there. Turns out I've no idea how to be consistent on any kind of social media...

Anyways, let's get to the point : last November, I discovered Haruki Murakami's work. I had never heard of him, and I was searching for any work from Franz Kafka, particularly The Trial, as my law teacher recommended it. I was in a small library by the sea, during holidays.

Plot twist : I didn't get The Trial then because they didn't have it, but I managed to find it later on, and read it as well.

So I was searching for Kafka. But the only book that matched my research was Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Even if it had nothing to do with my research, I was startled, puzzled even, and because the edition of the book was a favorite of mine, and the book was chunky as hell, I went for it.

I read the book quite slowly, and this became an habit with all Murakami's books. Even if I could read it extremely fast, I always take more time to enjoy it as much as possible. As you've understood it, I didn't stop at Kafka on the Shore : in less than a year, I got myself a fairly good amount of his books, namely Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood, After Dark, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84 (I & II).

Now that you know that I appreciate his work, you might want to understand why. I guess Murakami has understood reader's rythm, and that gets me everytime. For example, After Dark refers to music a lot, and is really built around it (at least in the first part). Each music reference is a few pages away from the other : you have the exactly needed amount of time to finish the song before you get the other one. That is pure genius ! Also, Murakami has a way to describe things, to tell stories that is at the same time extremely enveloping and quite minimalistic. Characters never overreact, which is really enjoyable, considering the stereotypical characters you may find in other works. Sometimes characters are even underreacting : in front of surnatural circumstances, they might not even be puzzled. For example, no one is shook in Kafka on the Shore when fish fall down from the sky. It results in peaceful books, that never make you feel nervous, but rather make you forget about your environment. The reader can easily enter the world Murakami creates, because it's nothing surnatural, it is always basic and relatable. Once Murakami has our attention, he twists the story to add a bit of fantastic, just as a way to spice it up.

The subjects Murakami writes about are repeated in each of his works : sexuality, becoming an adult, love, family links, nature, dreams. It really has to do with coming of age style !

Now you know why I call Haruki Murakami an obsession : it really is one ! I wish I knew Japanese to read him in his own language. Tell me what you think about Murakami or even other authors you're obsessed with.

[amaryllis-dna]

Dystopian binging

Oh here you are again, how surprising !

I just finished reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood this morning. I thought I could talk to you about my experience with these books that use fiction to criticize reality. 

As a matter of fact, I’ve always been interested in books with strong political meaning, as an opposition to love stories or fantastic fairytales with vampires and all these things. For me, books can have an impact on society, that’s why I read mostly dystopian fictions. The funny thing about this is you grow an opinion of your own having read multiple authors that diverge. Also, these are books you can read multiple times and always find new in. 

For me the most important fiction I read might be 1984 by George Orwell. I had read Animal Farm before which gave an interesting view on how does an autoritarian regime take place in a society. This fiction which looks rather like a tale for children is actually really interesting, but you might be troubled by the childish appearance of it. However 1984 has a much more serious tone. It is rather showing how a dictature remains, with the famous panem et circensem for the vast majority of people, and severe repression and control over the Party members. This distance between the leaders and the masses is really key, because it allows the Party to do whatever it wants without fearing a revolution. You can find this very same idea with most books treating the same subjects.

Another idea I’ve come across a lot lately in those dystopian books, is the importance of reading and language in a society. Whether it is Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, The Man in the High Castle, you’ll definitely find an evidence of the dangers that books signify for autoritarisms. For example, it is forbidden in Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid’s Tale, and 1984, for purposes of security, since the knowledge found in those lines is too dangerous for the masses. In fact, it is the only possibility of getting out of the doctrine of the system. In Brave New World, people are not supposed to read, and intellectual progress is under control, with an extremely strict breeding process eliminating most intelligent citizens from the masses. Books are the first way of proving resistance to the regime in most of these universes, with “The Grasshoper lies heavy”  in The Man in the High Castle, or with the process of writing memoires as testimony to prevent other generations from repeating the mistakes of their time.

Well, I probably could search for other things to say, maybe I’ll review Margaret Atwood’s books for this occasion. I hope you liked this little explanation of what I find interesting in reading dystopias.

Bye

[amaryllis-dna]

read, seriously.

Oh hi there, long time no see, isn’t it ? 

No, I absolutely did not post an announcement two hours ago saying that you’d probably wouldn’t here much of me soon. Again, the dramatism of the situation was too tempting.

Well, I thought I could come up with something to say, and it turns out that something I’m really interested about nowadays is reading. Thanks to the lockdown, I’ve been able to read 40 books in 2020, and I hope I’ll read even more in 2021.

Did I just consider that this massive pandemic that blew away all our preconceptions of life was a goOD oPpORtunITy tO REaD mORe ?

I think it really was the only way for me to lose track of time, to escape my own thoughts, to not crumble down. As pretty much every one, I felt like a mess during this historical event. I had to deal with my grandfather inexorably dying, a feeling of eternal loneliness and dreams vanishing as the situation was getting worse and worse. 

I read each day. As I woke up, I would spend an hour or so reading, with my window wide open. Thankfully the weather was pretty bad, which made it possible for me to listen to rain as I was reading. I came across all sorts of story lines : everlasting love, criminal cases, horror short stories, period books... When I was reading, the world outside didn’t even exist. I was elsewhere, no pandemic, no grandfather agonising, no fear of being let alone... This and a fulgurant passion for David Bowie (how bizarre ?) helped me get through it.

Well, I think I can say this was my first relevant post. I am not sure if it’s relevant at all, maybe I’m mistaken about the kind of content people should post out there. I honestly have no idea. Anyways, I think I’ll give you opinions on books and movies. 

That’ll do.

[amaryllis-dna]

How is the weather out there ?

How did I use to do this ? Everything seems so different now.

There was a time when I would lay the entire world on a paper sheet so easily. A long time ago. 

Well, probably not so long ago but see, I love to make things sound dramatic.

What am I doing here ? If only I knew. I just happened to turn on one of these dark academia playlist, mechanically typed “tumblr” and logged in. I guess I simply have things to get out of my chest, but that’s probably a story for another time.

Am I ever coming back someday ? We’ll see.