Pío Baroja (28 December, 1872 – 30 October, 1956) was a Spanish writer, biographer and physician, born as Pío Baroja y Nessi in San Sebastián
The narrative merges fact and fiction, to tell two stories that even though are worlds apart, are still connected through a common language, ideology, politics, and art.
About: Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi is a novel from this award winning author. This is the author’s second novel. 304 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Language: English ISBN-10: 0544944607 My rating for Call Me Zebra – 4 Buy Call Me Zebra from Amazon.com* More Books by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi Thoughts: I have no idea why I chose to read this novel, I don’t like stream of consciousness narrative mode, and I have very little interest in the troubled minds of 22 year old women. That being said, I found Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi difficult to put down. Almost like watching a train wreck happening and you can’t look away. This is a sharp, yet bizarre and demented story. The protagonist is so self-absorbed in her own journey, literature and ancestors that it’s almost laughable. She expects that any moment the rest of the world would embrace her vision of reality and the “truth”. I did enjoy the homages to some of my favorite writers, and some which I appreciate but will probably never read. The dead writers are very real to Zebra, real as any other person who spews wisdom and advice at you….
The author doesn’t paint Spain with rose colored glasses, he talks about bigotry, the horrible Inquisition, commerce, and economic inequality
The Vineyard by María Dueñas is long, but it’s a satisfying read – something which I rarely say about translated books
The different points of view give the story a much wider view of the world and how little human kind has advanced
What I thought would be tedious, turned out to be a great and unexpected read.
t’s amazing to read about the history of the Talmud paralleled that of the Jewish people. During the pogroms and ages which anti-Semitism was a societal and politically accepted, those who seek to destroy the Jews tried also to destroy the Talmud, mainly because they didn’t understand what it was about (ridiculously bringing about the blood-libel scenarios over and over).
I did not know what to expect, I knew it wouldn’t be a magnificent piece of literature, but I have heard many positive reviews and several bad ones.
A novel following the life of a Spanish woman’s journey from her humble beginnings as a poor seamstress, to an English spy during World War II.