Robert Harris - Ghost
Former British Prime Minister Adam Lang wants to publish his memoirs. After the dubious murder of his ghostwriter, his successor researches more closely than required and makes a discovery that could lead to global political chaos. Was the prime minister really in the service of the CIA?
No one before has ruled Britain as long as Prime Minister Adam Lang. Now he has retired from office, and the whole world eagerly awaits the memoirs of the charismatic man of power. His American publisher offered him a sensational ten million dollar advance. Under two conditions: The book must be on the market within two years, and the ex-premier should not miss a beat when it comes to the war on terror. Half a year before the date, the unthinkable happens: on the shore of the American island Martha's Vineyard, where Adam Lang has retired to work on his memories, the body of his ghostwriter is washed ashore. Was it murder? A replacement is quickly found who, on his own initiative, researches even more closely than his predecessor in the power politician's past. And in the process he comes across things that are so explosive that their publication would lead to global political chaos.
The personnel similarity with a former Prime Minister is not coincidental, even if the story is invented. Anyway, like most Harris novels, it's a reading pleasure. And by the way – the movie, based on the novel, is also worth seeing. Ewan McGregor plays the leading role.
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Afghanistan 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is determined to win a kite flying competition to prove his strength to his father. He needs the help of Hassan. Despite their different origins, the two boys have a close friendship. Until on the day of the competition Amir betrays his friend in a terrible way. The ways of the two separate, while the country goes at the same time towards its destruction. Many years later, the adult Amir returns from abroad to his hometown to pay off his debt. But Kabul has changed a lot since then.
The moving story of a friendship between love and betrayal, separation and reparation against the background of Afghanistan's recent past.
A long time since the journey through Afghanistan, but the memory comes back when reading the sections about Kabul and the world at that time. So much has changed, so much has been destroyed and is still being destroyed.
Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections
`Intelligent, compellingly readable, funny and above all generous spirited, it is a rare thing, a modern novel with both head and heart' Daily Mail `Funny and deeply sad, large-hearted and merciless, The Corrections is a testament to the range and depth of pleasures great fiction affords' David Foster Wallace After fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity, and their children have long since fled for the catastrophes of their own lives. As Alfred's condition worsens and the Lamberts are forced to face their secrets and failures, Enid sets her heart on one last family Christmas. Bringing the old world of civic virtue and sexual inhibition into violent collision with the era of hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental healthcare and globalised greed, `The Corrections' confirms Jonathan Franzen as one of the most brilliant interpreters of the American soul.
Sometimes there are those books that you might not want to read first, but then you are so enthusiastic that an entry in „Lonely Island Canon“ is unavoidable.
Simply great ...
Rory Stewart - The Places In Between
Caught between hostile nations, warring factions and competing ideologies, at the time Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot and following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mogul Emperor, Babur the Great, Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme, hostile conditions. Only with the help of an unexpected companion and the generosity of the people he met on the way did he survive to report back with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war.
And another reminder of Afghanistan, but this time with a cold shiver when witnessing the adventures of Rory Stewart. One is torn between admiration for courage and shaking his head over the madness of his journey.
And here are more books that have accompanied me on my travels:
