Julian Barnes, "Elizabeth Finch" (ABC-Atticus)
The new detective novel by modern British writer Julian Barnes is called by critics "a philosophical treatise on everything in the world."
The work touches on various topics that are revealed in the format of the characters' dialogues - monogamy, stoicism, polytheism, chastity, erotica, etc.
The heroine is an unmarried teacher of the course "Culture and Civilization" Elizabeth Finch, who prefers to conduct dialogues with her students, does not talk about herself and knows how to completely capture the attention of the audience.
Even decades later, she remained a mystery to her former students, which haunted some of them.
Former student Finch decides to sort out her notebooks in the hope of understanding the essence of this elusive, charismatic and eccentric personality.
“Once at dinner, years later, I again spoke to her about Mozart's dilemma.
The one that asks: “Life is beautiful, but sad;
Or is life sad but beautiful?
Sitting opposite, two plates of pasta separating us, I felt as if I had come to the oracle for advice.
“Life is both, necessary and inevitable,” she replied.
I think her point was that another misconception was presented as a cardinal question.
Or maybe not.
Elizabeth Finch, it seemed to me, knew no pity for herself.
She would call pity for her own person vulgarity - but only moral vulgarity, by no means social.
As for herself, her lack of self-pity was part of her stoic attitude towards life.
She knew - however, I'm only making assumptions - and love disappointment, and loneliness, and betrayal of friends, even public persecution (we will return to this in due time), but she endured all these ups and downs with imperturbable indifference.
Julian Barnes, "Elizabeth Finch"
© Azbuka-Atticus
Christina Te, "My Dark Queen" (MYTH)
What if the beautiful and kind Rapunzel is actually a merciless dark queen who burns everything in her path to ashes?
A native of Siberia, Kristina Te, offers a fantasy retelling of the famous fairy tale about a princess with golden hair.
This is a dark story in which good became evil.
The plot of the book focuses on a beautiful queen with blond curls and a black heart.
The story is told from the perspective of her sister.
Their mother saved someone else's child, which she regretted years later.
A small and fragile man became a real monster, and the usual tower could no longer contain him inside.
The novel contains dark drawings by Russian artists that add to the story and atmosphere.
“At the very beginning of this journey, I had little idea of what to do, what to sacrifice and what to decide.
I went with the flow, listening, looking and remembering.
And trying not to think about the ultimate goal of the mission, which she placed on herself.
But only now I understand that it was just a saying, and my path, despite my legs worn out by boots and a dusty cloak, has not even begun yet.
However, it will start soon.
Very soon.
Perhaps it is starting right now, as I lower my head and rest my knees and palms on the crumbling marble floor, looking at the palace ruins through Cayo's eyes.
It floats in the blackened sky, from where the twisted fragments look like children's toys carelessly scattered on the ground.
In the distant halls, where I never reached, the illusions mentioned by the Prince flicker with a golden light.
Looks like some kind of statue.
Perhaps, close up, I could see the faces of your relatives ... your victims, but from a bird's eye view I can only guess the curves of bodies and the frozen dance of clothes.
I don't know what exactly I hope to find.
Some sign.
Hint.
I love weirdness.
But the strangest here are just us: the eyeless Prince, the fake Witch, and the fake bird.
Christina Te, "My Dark Queen"
© MIF
Johannes Frasnelli, "The Power of Smell" (ABC-Atticus)
Johannes Frasnelli completed his PhD in Medicine at the University of Vienna.
He has worked at the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Smell and Taste at Dresden University of Technology and has also done research in Canada.
In 2014, Frasnelli became a professor at the Department of Anatomy at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres.
In the book, he explains in an accessible language the various processes associated with the sense of smell and answers many questions: how it affects the brain, how depression and anxiety can change the sense of smell, whether there are pheromones, whether neurogenerative diseases can be predicted using the sense of smell, and others.
The professor considers not only neurobiology, anatomy and psychology, but also the taste preferences of the peoples of the world, which makes it possible to study smells and sensations from them more deeply.
The Power of Smell has been named the best non-fiction book of 2020 in the Medicine and Biology category by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research.
“Take a couple of gummy bears or some other flavored candy and put them side by side.
Close your eyes so the color doesn't give away the flavor of their filling, and pinch your nose.
Then randomly choose a candy, put it in your mouth and start chewing it slowly.
You will taste the sweetness and probably also feel a slight sour taste.
But you won't be able to tell if the gummies taste orange, cherry, or pineapple.
After a few seconds, open your nose and focus on your sensations.
You will instantly experience additional flavor beyond the sweetness and acidity.
It is as if another dimension has been added to the sense impression.
What you experience when you open your nose, compared to when you pinch your nose, is the contribution of smell to the perception of food flavors.
Johannes Frasnelli, "The Power of Smell"
© Azbuka-Atticus
Jonathan Riceman, The Undiscovered Body (MYTH)
Dr. Jonathan Riceman graduated from medical school, studied nature and traveled extensively.
In the book, he reveals the human anatomical world from an unusual angle: his experience, knowledge and study of the world helped him analyze each organ separately and how different elements of the body function together.
This is not just a medical reference book with dry facts, but a whole non-fiction novel in which the main character is the inner world of a person.
Using the example of his patients, analysis, philosophy and communication with other specialists, the author examines the work of the heart, gastrointestinal tract, throat and other components of the human body.
He gives specific examples, explains complex information in simple language such as how to diagnose a heart attack, compares the processes in the body with natural phenomena, and also understands where the brain ends and the mind begins.
“It wasn’t until my histology class the following semester that I learned that the skin is more than just a static outer shell.
This is the largest organ with its complex life activity.
It, like the top layer of the earth, is a breathable and microorganism-inhabited layer that covers the body.
It contains sweat glands through which sweat is released to cool the body and moisturize the skin.
Neighboring sebaceous glands secrete sebum, which protects and lubricates the skin.
Hair grows from follicles in the skin, and attached to each follicle is a tiny muscle that lifts the hair in response to winter cold, eerie forebodings, or mesmerizing vocal harmonies.
The skin is incredibly smart: being the only organ regularly exposed to the sun, it produces a tan pigment when exposed to sunlight to protect mutated DNA from ionizing radiation.
When rubbed, the skin thickens and forms a callus - armor to protect against future friction.
While it is widely known that the liver can regenerate, as perpetuated in the myth of Prometheus, I have found that the skin is vastly superior in its ability to self-repair and renew itself.
Wounds in the skin heal on their own as cells rush in from all directions to fill the defect."
Jonathan Riceman, "The Undiscovered Body"
© MIF
Ken Mogi, "Nagomi" (ABC-Atticus)
Author of the world bestseller “Ikigai.
The meaning of life in Japanese ”Ken Mogi wrote a new book in which he revealed the secrets of the Japanese path to self-realization and peace of mind, well-being and a happy life.
Nagomi is an important feature of the culture and thinking of the Japanese people, which is rooted in history.
In general terms, nagomi combines several other concepts of the Land of the Rising Sun.
In his book, Mogi explains to the reader what the meaning of Nagomi philosophy is, and also helps to study and comprehend it, namely, to learn to be at peace with yourself and with your loved ones, to live by your own principles, accepting others, to achieve inner harmony and peace, regardless of outside world.
Kenichiro "Ken" Mogi is a Japanese scientist, neuroscientist, and writer.
His main goal in life is to understand what the mind and brain are.
Mogi works as a researcher at the Sony Computer Science Laboratory and also teaches at several universities in Tokyo.
In Japanese, the author has published about 100 books.
“If you squeeze the life philosophy of the Japanese into one phrase, it will be like this: “The only thing that is constant in the world is change.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, this has become more evident than ever.
There are more and more uncertainties in life, and we have to learn to adapt to unexpected and uncontrollable changes.
The Nagomi Way recognizes that many things can be difficult and shows that one must learn to put up with ambiguity, with all the ups and downs that come in life.
The feeling of the frailty of the world, the realization that everything that exists is transient - this is what explains the adherence to the Nagomi philosophy.
Everything passes, no matter how strong and permanent they may seem.
If you build with stones, the structure will still not stand forever.
Ken Mogi, Nagomi
© Azbuka-Atticus