Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials
The orphan Lyra, the main character in "The Golden Compass," lives in a parallel world, in science, theology, and magic quite similar to ours. When her best friend disappears, Lyra goes in search of him and finds out about a sinister conspiracy.
She has to find out what the strange "dust" is about. In "The Magic Knife" she gets support from Will, who owns a special knife: With it, he can open windows between the worlds. Little by little, Lyra and Will discover the truth about Lyra's origins. And about her role in the great battle, which finds its exciting conclusion in "The Amber Telescope".
Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials, is an unparalleled fantasy series that has moved millions of readers. The film adaptation of band 1 The Golden Compass did not get euphoric reviews, so the filming of volumes 2 and 3 was not done. But now, in cooperation with HBO, the BBC has produced a new mini series. It's amazing! And yes, Pullman is writing a new trilogy, the prequel to the Dark Materials.
Charles Dickens - Great Expectations
There are 100 000 books that are beautiful; 10 000, which are very beautiful; 1 000, which are even more beautiful than all the others. And there are 100 books that make God cry, one of which is Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.
There is nothing to add to it.
For years I forgot to remember this book. And just in Laos, temporally, geographically and culturally light-years from the England of the 19th Century away, I have been reminded of it. To my pleasure and satisfaction.
Patrick Leigh Fermor - A Time of Gifts / Between the Woods and the Water
18 years old iPatrick Leigh Fermor as he sets out to explore Europe. His goal in mind, he wants to Constantinople, he first wanders from Hoek van Holland up the Rhine. The winter journey goes deep into Germany, through meadows and forests, snow-covered cities, along the Danube, to Vienna and Prague, to the Hungarian marshes.
It is the year of Hitler's seizure of power. In his poetic and precise language, Patrick Leigh Fermor creates in our minds the ancient Europe, which will sink to ruins a few years later.
The ideal travel book. One wonders about an eighteen-year-old who in 1933 simply starts marching in the middle of winter, crosses the whole continent and finally arrives his destination in Istanbul. You want to pack yourself and start walking right away ...
Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram
When the Australian Lindsay gets stranded in Bombay, he has two years in prison and is fleeing from Interpol. Luckily, he meets the young Indian, Prabaker, who takes him under his wing.
On their forays through the exotic metropolis, the two of them have a close friendship, and Lindsay not only learns the language of the country, but also to come to terms with himself: He becomes "Shantaram", a "man of peace", and fights for the Poorest of the poor. But then Lindsay falls for a German-American with dubious contacts to the underworld.
Nobody knows for sure, if the story is true, or if the gifted narrator has sucked it out of his fingers. Actually, no matter, because it is a big reading pleasure. And besides, I bought this book on the Calangute beach in Goa from a flying trader. A copy of a copy of a copy ...
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind
On a misty summer morning of 1945, the young Daniel Sempere is led by his father to a mysterious place in Barcelona - the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There Daniel discovers the novel of a lost author, which is called The Shadow of the Wind. It will change his life.
It is always astonishing that such gems are discovered in the tangle of annual new releases and become a global success. And such a discovery leads to further discoveries in the author's rich oeuvre ...
And here are more books that have accompanied me on my travels:
