Angels in America: a dystopia?

I really wouldn’t recommend reading “Angels in America”.  As I suspected the text is confusing. This confusion is caused by a lack of background and the introduction of scenes in which characters are supposed to speak over each other. During a play I suppose it makes sense but in a book there is a need of coherently portraying the chaos. A book consists of prose not of a list of characters saying things without any background and surroundings.

Furthermore, nothing good happens, what was to be expected from a topic as AIDS. All the characters are miserable in their life. Roy and Prior are sick, Louis wants to commit suicide, Joe is a closet homosexual who is afraid to out himself and his wife suffers from a depression and is addicted to Valium.

New York, and the whole of America isn’t off any better and at times is depicted as a dystopia. The characters live in a dysfunctional world full of suffer. America is presented as a disintegrated and corrupted society and the end is near. The millennium approaches and we don’t know what is going to come, seems to be suggested.

As for the angels. Believe seems to have gone out of the window and politics have taken its place. In the new world there is no place for religion or tradition. The only time an angel appears is towards the end but it is more probable that this angel is noting more than a mere illusion, a drug inspired apparition to a dying man.

In short, as a book I can’t say I would recommend it. The plot is confusing, since it is not the medium it is meant for and only negative things happen, there is no pivotal point, no scene in which things even go remotely better.

I love Rome (5): I shall have to make choices

With our trip to Rome closing in we obviously have to make choices since we realize our itinerary isn’t realistic.

We only have half a day left and decide to spend our precious time, getting a rest in Villa Burguese. Villa Burguese is the biggest park in Rome and definitely worth a visit.

Upon entering the park, I was immediately in seventh heaven bumping into a statue of Lord Byron, with several pieces of Childe Harold engraved on the pedestal.

Venturing into the park we got into a green oasis, the sound of cars only a distant memory and music streams in your direction thanks to the street musicians. The ideal place to detoxicate from the busy city life.

Afterwards we got our backpacks and settled in the train to Taranto. This was a trip of 6 hours during which we saw the Italian landscape fly by. On problem however was the lack of information given in any other language than italian.

Arriving in Taranto, the troubles started however. We couldn’t find our bus and had to ask directions. Everybody directed us to the bus station, which we couldn’t find. We stopped an empty bus passing by and after trying to explain our problem to the driver he offered to drive us to the bus station. There, however, was no bus to Brindisi. We got back on the bus and the driver was so kind to bring us back to the train station, where by then there was the bus we where looking for. We finally could relax knowing we wouldn’t be stranded in Taranto in the middle of the night and we arrived safely in Brindisi.

 

Angels in America; Millenium Approaches

I am not a fan of reading theatre plays, with the exception of Shakespeare, who, in my opinion,  is utterly brilliant. (And yes I know this is a cliché but it is the truth.) Plays are scripts meant to be transformed into a play, they are not books. The interruptions in order to give stage clues and the way the voice of characters are introduced, no I am not a fan. All these things slow down the reading process and I don’t like it a bit.

That having said, my next book on the TBR list is actually a play: “Angels in America; Millennium Approaches” from Tony Kushner. I never heard  of the guy and only stumbled across the book because it is on our university’s TBR list. However, I am going to keep an open mind and read this play without any prejudice.

The playwright, Tony Kushner, is a successful author who wrote scripts for the theatre as well as the film world and his work “Angels in America” won several awards. In 1993 he won the Pulitzer prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. And many years later, in 2004, he won an Emmy Award for the same play.  His latest outstanding achievement must be receiving the National Medal of Arts from Barack Obama in 2013.

This week I am going to read said play, which I read is “the first part of an epic drama about America in the ‘80s. Having said this, I still don’t have a clue what it is about. What do the angels refer to? Actual angels? Outstanding citizens? Is the title ironic, or not?

I hope to find all this out while reading the text.

I love Rome (4): the religious tour

I am sorry for the delay for this post due to a lack of internet, some really hectic days and serious trouble considering transport, I am only able to finally sit down and write this post today.

So here I go, a few days late but with reloaded batteries, typing about Rome from a nice rustic restaurant in Corfu. Yes, by now I am already in Corfu so my post will follow each other pretty quickly to make up for lost time 🙂 .

Our fourth day, we decided to go on the religious tour (and no, I am not religious at all). We got up early checked if our tickets were all right and sett off for the Vatican.

First we visited the St. Peter’s Basilisk since it is for free and we expected quite a line later in the day. Although it was only nine in the morning it was already pretty warm and we were happy to be in the shadows.

Having a prepaid ticket we could luckily skip the endless lines of people waiting for the Vatican Museum and we could only imagine how it must have felt for all those people, standing in a nonprogressing line, in the sun, melting away.

The Vatican museum was awesome. Seriously, there was too much to see. Not only did we have to pay attention to the exibit also to our environments. Sometimes when looking ful of awe at a statue you look towards the ceiling or the floor and discover that there as well a thrue masterpiece is hidden.

After several hours in the Museum, we finished our tour at Castel della Angelo. Previously the tumbe of a Roman Emperor, later rebuilt to a fortress with an escape path for the pope.

 

TIP: when visiting the Vatican Museum buy tickets in advance. You may have to pay a bit more but this is totally worth it. We could enter in 10 minutes, while passing a line of 1 km of people waiting to get in.

TIP: the Etruskan area of the museum closes at noon. Do not skip it and don’t think I will have enough time lateron. This is where the stature of Remus and Romulos is located.

Tip: While going through the museum don’t forget to pry your eyes of the statues and art pieces for ones and take to admire the building itself. Take a look at the walls, the ceiling, the roof, … some of the most beautiful pieces of art can be found here.

 

The Great Gatsby: Is it already over?

Reading “The Great Gatsby” flew by way to fast. The book is a real page-turner and having finished it the only thought on my mind is; “Is it really over?”. Because, frankly, if the book consisted of a hundred pages more it wouldn’t still be enough.

Yes, I have to admit, I had to cry in the end, already knowing he was going to die. Gatsby is true tragical hero who wasted his live trying to reach an impossible dream. Daisy on the other hand, just like Tom is the wasteful type. They are living the life: they are rich, popular and they have together, but still they are not happy. Daisy suffers from a kind of depression, while Tom drives around with his mistress. Like Nick says; they are careless and troublemakers and whenever it gets too hot under their feet, they just leave everything behind, leaving their mess to someone else.

While reading, I couldn’t help but rooting for Gatsby, who does everything to get the woman of his dreams back. Although he might not be a proper gentlemen in Tom’s terms,  I would prefer Gatsby a thousand times over Tom. Tom is aggressive, looks down on people and is rude.

No, I like to remember the Gatsby  from Nick’s description when meeting him at the party. I mean, what a smile!!!

“He smiled understandingly – much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced – or seemed to face – the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey” – The Great Gatsby – p32

The book on itself was wonderful, however towards the end I was a bit disappointed. In my opinion the film portrays the disillusionment of Nick way better than the movie. Somehow, the movie just got to me in this part of the plot that the book just doesn’t.

That having said, I have to admit that I loved both the book and the movie. The book is well-written and keeps you interested in the plot at all times. I sure love this book and would certainly recommend it to anyone out there looking for a good read.

Finally, I’d like to finish this post with a nice quote I read in the book that represents New York as a world of possibilities, where dreams still can come through;

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, I its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty of the world. […] ‘Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge’, I thought; ‘anything at all … ” – The Great Gatsby, p44

I love Rome (3): the Roman world

Today, our visits were connected with the ancient world. We visited the Forum Romanum, the Colosseum and the baths of Caracalla.

It is amazing to walk around at monuments from the Roman Period and stare in awe at the fabulous architecture. How did they manage to build this wall or how could they organize such a giantess city without the means we have today? You can let your imagination run wild and see the buildings rise up in your mind. A small piece of mosaic on the floor, a hole in the wall where a statue used to be, they all help construct ancient Rome in your brain.

However, the white and natural tones we see in the monuments today didn’t dominate the street view in Roman times. No, the temples, senate buildings and so on where all painted over in bright colours, giving the city some colour.

We wanted to avoid the main traffic of tourists and went to the Forum Romanum in the morning. The place is huge and certainly worth visiting. It is actually a park covering most of the Palatine. Except from the Palatine, palaces, temples and villas give you a healthy mix of roman architecture. Make sure you don’t forget the museum on top of the hill and the amazing viewpoints over various other monuments such as the Circus Massimo and the Colosseum.

According to our guide we have Mussolini to thank for the excavations. Aparently his office was at the Altara della Patria and he wanted a clear view of the Colosseum. Consequently all buildings in between had to be destroyed.

Next, we went to the Colosseum, a bit of a disappointment to my sister. After seeing the Forum Romanum and all it had to offer, the Colosseum went over too quickly. There was les to see and the lines to see it were e as long.  I, on the other hand don’t share her opinion. Sure, after spending nearly 3 hours in the Forum Romanum, the Colosseum only took half an hour. But in my opinion this was time well spend.

In the afternoon, we completed our tour with the Baths of Caracalla. Although I have seen some better preserved Roman Baths (mainly in Sicily), the site is still impressive and most of the walls are still erect.

We concluded our day with a moijito at the river banks and went home taking ancient Rome with us in our imagination.

TIP: the first Sunday of the month most museums are for free.

TIP: The Forum Romanum and the Colosseum are included in the same entry ticket. If you didn’t buy your tickets online, first go to the Forum Romanum, the lines are a lot shorter.

TIP: If you don’t have time to visit the Colosseum and the Forum Romanum, I advise you go for the Forum Romanum. There is way more to see and the queue are noticably shorter.

TIP: Relatively close to the Baths of Caracalla is the protestant graveyard. Several English poets are burried here, for example: Keats.Take notice though, the graveyard is only open till noon.

I love Rome (2): the exploration continuous

Due to some very tiresome days I am a bit behind on posts, since I am opposed to long dreadful posts and since we saw a lot I am just going to post one day at a time. Nevertheless, I will still have more than enough information and pictures.

To keep things short, we planned two guided tours this day: a bicycle tour through the city and an evening walking tour with ghost stories as the topic. Both were wonderful and definitely recommendable.

So … First or morning tour by bicycle. We booked our tour at Bici and Baci a bicycle and Vespa rental close to the Forum Romanum. The tour was super chill and fascinating, we crossed a huge part of the ancient part of the city and got a lot of useful information on the way.

The Colosseum from an excellent vantage point

The Pantheon

The walls of the old Circus that now finds itself beneath the Piazza Navona

Chiesa Santa Maria della Pace: many people (including me) don’t know that Rafael painted more churches than the Sistine Chapel, this well-hidden church is an excellent example.

TIP: Our tour with Bici&Baci was well-organized and the guide was happy to answer all our questions. Tours are available in English, French, German and Spanish and we sure as hell had a wonderful time

TIP: When you are at the Piazza Fiori make sure you visit the bakery at the corner of the square. Especially their pizza is popular among the locals.

TIP: Thirsty in Rome? All those alluring little taps along the way actually contain drinking water. Everywhere you can find those little drinking spots assuring free and cold water.

In the afternoon we sadly had to alter our plans. Originally we wanted to go to Tivoli. Tivoli is a small village outside of Roma with idyllic villas and gardens, but luck was against us. After waking up after a nice nap in the train we noticed the train still hadn’t left and substitute busses were organized. However, not to Tivoli. A bit sad we asked our money back and went back to the centre, having lost more or less our entire afternoon.

But the optimist always sees the glass half full and soon we had evening plans. Namely, a ghost tour across Rome. We booked this trip with City Wonders and were again very happy with our choice. The tour was an interesting mix of history, legends and tragic stories and we never experienced a dull moment.

 

 

Some funny stories behind the next three pictures:

#1: This gloomy figure on the Piazza di Fiori is a Roman philosopher executed for heresy. At the age of 17 he was already condemned, he fled though and has been on the run for the rest of his life, ending up in Rome again.

#2: This depiction of Madonna can be found on many street corners, protecting the oblivious roamers from muggers. This idea, introduced by a pope in the middle ages, actually reduced the crime rate of the city. How much influence can a depiction possible have?

#3: This dark and robust villa once belonged to the Farnesi family, a family so rich they felt they had the right to do the strangest things, such as closing down the piazza in front of their castle and make a pool out of it in the summer. Nowadays the French embassy takes place here, thanks to Napoleon who put up quarters here.

TIP: the City Wonders Ghost and Mystery tour is certainly recommendable. The groups were small and the guide told his stories with passion. Again these trips are available in several languages.

All by all, a wonderful day and looking out for tomorrow.

I love Rome (1): exploring the city

We finally arrived in Rome, the old centre of the world. I have always been fascinated by Rome, being a big fan of ancient cultures. Therefore,  a trip to Rome is heaven on earth. I am running around like crazy just to see everything on my list. Which reminds be of a tourist guide mentioning torture still being actual today in the form of tourists crossing around all day, with blisters bigger than their feet.

We arrived in Rome yesterday around four o’clock and decided to instantly drop our luggage off and scout through the city. We passed by many of the famous monuments in our attempt to get accustomed to this beautiful place.

We started our tour at the Santa Maria Maggiore followed by the Colosseum, a brilliant piece of architecture. I find it hard to imagine all the little quirks installed in the building. The elevator system, the possibility to close the roof and most of all, the possibility to flood the place and reenact famous sea battle. Then, we passed the Forum Romanum and the Arco di Constantin.

 

St. Maria Maggiore

 

The Colosseum

Arco di Constantin

Forum Romanum

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we went to “Altara de la Patria”, a torn in the eye of the locals that is built on top of a huge part of the Forum Romanum.

We ended our tour with a quick peek at the Tiber and visiting the isle.

TIP: If you visit Rome in July take notice of the festivals and other activities organised by the city. Many monuments are transformed in theaters and on the Isle there is a literature and film festival.

After dinner, we decided to take some night pictures of some monuments. However, the lighting of these monuments proved disappointing, the Romans clearly can improve this aspect of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, the book I have been looking forward to.

The last couple of years I have been postponing on reading the Great Gatsby, afraid that it won’t live up to my expectations is an understatement. I am guilty of looking at the film first and thought it would be hard to top that performance. But hey you know what they say; the book is always better than the film.

So here I go, I am finally going to read “The Great Gatsby” and my reading list is filled with Fitzgerald’s books. Mainly because the topic of my final paper is going to be about “Fitzgerald as a New York Writer”. But of all Fitzgerald’s books “The Great Gatsby” is the most famous.

The fact that it is the most famous and widely read book of Fitzgerald is quite surprising though, since in his own time Fitzgerald’s other books had more success. During the years however, “The Great Gatsby” has experienced a growth in its appreciation and now-a-days we can find the book in the top-10 list of many readers.

Therefore, I am going to stop talking and start reading, in order that I can form my own opinion.

Looking for Alaska: Did or didn’t she?

Again a dark and sad novel by John Green brought in a magnificent way that makes you think about age-old questions mankind has been struggling with from the start.

Look at any religion and at their core you find the same essence. They all try to display a way out of suffering. Buddhism turns to meditation and reaching an enlightened state and monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Islam put their faith in one god and solidarity to lighten their burdens.

The central theme of “Looking for Alaska” can clearly be found between these parameters. Not only do the students follow classes with this theme, we are also asked the question; “How do we get out of the labyrinth of suffering?”.

“That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is he labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape – the world or the end of it?” – Looking for Alaska, p19

But are there correct answers? If to live is to suffer, don’t we just have to accept it and plough through as best as we can? These are all central questions that are never really answered, the reader has to think for himself.

This novel, “Looking for Alaska” was John Green’s first novel, written in 2005. A year later the book was awarded the Michael L. Printz Award by the American Library Association. It’s main character Miles is in search of “The Great Perhaps” and befriends Alaska Young. Alaska is a rebellious, dark and moody girl with regular fits of temper. And in one of those tempers she dies in a car accident.

The question however, was this really an accident or was this suicide? We accompany our main characters in a search for the truth, a search for answers. The main question at first glance being her probable suicide when they get to know more we realize however that this initial and main question isn’t the most important one for them. No, our main characters want to know what happens after you die (The great perhaps) and how to deal with sorrow, guilt and pain.

To wrap things up. I deeply enjoyed reading “Looking for Alaska” John Green really gets you thinking about the topics he writes about. Not only the main characters are on a quest for the truth but the reader as well. Whether you find the answer or not doesn’t matter, because these questions do not have a distinctive answer, however, they are omnipresent in life.