Ossasblog

21/10/2024

The darker the times, the stronger we stand by each other.
It is in such circumstances that we put all our efforts to alleviate the suffering and to keep the smile on the faces of the displaced.
The Society of Lebanon the Giver and princess Diala Arslan’s library organized a cultural evening to entertain the displaced families who are currently taking shelter at the L'Emir Fayssal Arslan residence and museum.
It was a duty and a pleasure to watch the joy on their faces and to spend few hours in a warm and peaceful atmosphere.

11/03/2024

Join us on April 6th at Princess Diala Arslan Talhouk's library where the winners of the best short story in Arabic will be announced. RSVP +961 70 735 002.

12/10/2020

Richard Branson, Losing My Virginity

The book:

An autobiography of Sir , a dyslexic drop-out who founded , , , , etc.
How did he pe*****te and dominate a highly competitive market?
In this book, you won’t find recommendations on how to start up and run a business. You will find a risk-taker who lives life to the fullest: “Screw it, let’s do it.”

Quotes:

“Since we’re complete virgins at business, let’s call it just that: Virgin.”

“The established way is not the only way.”

“If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside.”

Interested readers:



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05/10/2020

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

The book:
Amir - a boy abandoned by his mother - and Hassan - an orphan - are best friends.
They fly kites to escape the horrific reality of life in Afghanistan. Amir fails to prevent a bully from assaulting Hassan, and is silent about the fantastic abuse his friend endures; a silence that will help him impress his father, but lose a valuable friendship and live in guilt for decades…

My Thoughts:

Years after I read the book, the pain is still raw, still powerful, yet still beautiful. This book broke my heart to the point I dare not read another book by Hosseini.
The horror does not vanish once you finish the book. It stays because life is abundant with war, injustice, ethnic prejudice and vice.
This kind of story makes me determined to refuse all vice and strive to instill virtue in my family.

Quotes:

“Ask him where his shame is.” […] He says this is war. There is no shame in war. “Tell him he’s wrong. War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.”

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime”.

Interested readers:



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24/09/2020

Guy De Maupassant, Pierre & Jean

Le Livre :
Un médecin et un avocat, 2 frères compétitifs dont la rivalité latente explose quand Jean, le cadet, reçoit un legs important d’un ami de la famille. Pierre n’en revient pas. Son monde vole en éclats lorsque de doute en doute, de colère en colère, d’amertume en amertume, il découvre le secret de sa mère. Femme au-dessus de tout soupçon, va-t-elle être déshonorée par son fils ?

Mes réflexions :
De Maupassant a un style fantastique : simple, sensible, avec beaucoup de précision sur les caractères, les sentiments, les lieux et la lumière.

Citations :
« […] il n’aurait su d’où lui venait cette pesanteur de l’âme et cet engourdissement du corps. Il avait mal quelque part sans savoir où ; il portait en lui un petit point douloureux, une de ces presque insensibles meurtrissures dont on ne trouve pas la place, mais qui gênent, fatiguent, attristent, irritent, une souffrance inconnue et légère, quelque chose comme une graine de chagrin. »

« Leurs yeux pour s’éviter avaient pris une mobilité surprenante et des ruses d’ennemis qui redoutent de se croiser. »

Éloge:
« De Maupassant sait rendre à merveille les ressorts psychologiques de personnages aux sentiments palpables, hauts en couleurs et parfaitement incarnés, les émotions cachées et les secrets coupables, et l'écriture superbement maîtrisée ajoute encore au plaisir de lecture de ce roman. » - babilio

Lecteurs Intéressés :
française .

16/09/2020

سبعون، ميخائيل نعيمة

الكتاب:
حكاية عمر أديب فيلسوف متصوّف عاد من المهجر إلى بلدة بَسْكِنْتا اللبنانية، إلى عرزال بناه على تلة الشخروب، حيث اعتزل يقرأ ويكتب ويتأمّل. بين صخور كلسية رمادية جلس "ناسك الشخروب" يدوّن ذكريات مفرحة مؤلمة عن صداقته المتينة بجبران خليل جبران وأدباء المهجر وانخراطه في الجيش الأميركي في الحرب العالمية الأولى، عن عودته إلى وطنه، عن معاناته الشخصية غير المنفصلة في كثير من الأحيان عن معاناة أمّته. على سفح جبل صِنّين، تفرغ ريشة ذا الإبداع والتنوير والفكر المتنوّع فلسفة صاحبها الخاصة.

ما أحببت:
كل كلمة.

مقولات:
"عُدْتُ وفي أُذنيّ ضجيج مدنيّات لا تُحصى. وفي رأسي براكين من الأفكار، وفي قلبي حنين إلى عزلة أستطيع أنْ أغرق في صمتها وسكونها وجمالها. فأطهّرِ أذني من الضجيج، وأفرّج عن رأسي ممّا فيه من البراكين. وأبرّد بعض ما في قلبي من الشوق والحنين. وكان الشخروب كريماً معي […]"

"كنت أعلم أن الشخروب لا بدَّ أن يشرب من دمي يومًا."

"كلّما بَرَيْتُ قلمي بَراني." – ميخائيل نعيمة

للمهتمين بــ:
#الأدب، ، ، الرابطة القلمية، أدباء المهجر، #لبنان ، #نيويورك.

06/09/2020

Orlando Figes, Natasha’s Dance

A rich, complex, and forceful history of a vibrant civilization that has left its mark on the world’s history, geography and literature. It begins with Peter the Great sacking the boyars, an aristocracy that had until then dominated Russia; it moves on to his founding of Saint Petersburg, and ends with the soviet era. From folk embroidery to peasant songs and religious icons, from food, drink to bathing habits, the book gives an idea of the character and the spiritual essence of Russia.

Criticism:
Figes was attacked by Russians who say that a non-Russian often misunderstands some of the culture and the significance of its impact on literature, arts, theatre, dance and architecture. He also overlooks the influence the Russian émigrés had in the west.

I love the opening words:
“On a misty spring morning in 1703 a dozen Russian horsemen rode across the bleak and barren marshlands where the Neva river runs into the Baltic Sea. They were looking for a site to build a fort against the Swedes, then at war with Russia, and the owners of these long-abandoned swamps.”

Quotes:

“Tolstoy loved to be among the peasants. He derived intense pleasure—emotional, erotic—from their physical presence. The ‘spring-like’ smell of their beards would send him into raptures of delight. He loved to kiss the peasant men. The peasant women he found irresistible—sexually attractive and available to him by his ‘squire’s rights.’ Tolstoy’s diaries are filled with details of his conquests of the female serfs on his estate—a diary he presented, according to the custom, to his bride Sonya (as Levin does to Kitty) on the eve of their wedding.”

Interested readers:
, Peter the great, Catherine the Great

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17/08/2020

Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain

A fortnight ago, the lives, hopes, dreams and livelihood of Beirutis were blasted by ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut port, tragically close to busy, historic neighborhoods.

The book
In Coelho’s Fifth Mountain, the prophet Elijah suffers immensely and undergoes trying tribulations.
Will he be able to love and forgive?
Will Beirutis, who have endured “a soul-shattering trail of faith” be able to pick up the pieces and regain faith?

Excerpt from the book:
[…] ELIJAH GATHERED ALL THE INHABITANTS in the square, now cleared of most of the debris. Torches were lit, and he began to speak.
“We have no choice,” he said. “We can leave this work for the foreigner to do; but that means giving away the only chance that a tragedy offers us: that of rebuilding our lives.
“The ashes of the dead that we burned some days ago will become the plants that are reborn in the spring. The son who was lost the night of the invasion will become the many children running freely through the ruined streets and amusing themselves by invading forbidden places and houses they had never known. Until now only the children have been able to overcome what took place, because they have no past–for them,
everything that matters is the present moment. So we shall try to act as they do.

Quotes:
“We work without ceasing, we no longer recall the pains of that night, and we even forget that the Assyrians have sacked Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and all of Phoenicia.”

Interested readers:
, , , , ,

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31/05/2020

Farewell Kabul, Christina Lamb

Christina Lamb writes with intact conscience. Through her words, victims and casualties of war are not just numbers. One lives with them, shares their hopes and sheds tears at their grisly ends. One could feel them, their pain, their tragedy.
In the last chapter, Christina writes: "Of course, in the end, I went back". I believe in the end, one returns to the place that left its imprint on one's heart and mind, good or bad, scarred or healed.
Often, I would find myself looking up from a page, a paragraph, a word to stare blandly into space.
I could see the ripple effect of the politics and the actions that are spreading terrorism throughout the world.

Interested readers:
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban, History & Geopolitics.

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26/05/2020

25/05/2020

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

The book:
Catherine… Heathcliff… There is nothing classic about this “classic”.

One powerful chapter after another peels off the revenge and its consequences of a wounded man whose love chooses to marry into wealth and status, both of which he lacks. Her choice turns him into an angry, violent, tormented man who refuses to believe he has any worth. His cruelty and vengeance are diabolical.

This is a wild, improbable, yet spellbinding novel of an epic emotional magnitude.

Interested readers:
, , , , .

Quotes:
“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.” – Catherine

“Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!” – Heathcliff

19/04/2020

Ayn Rand, The

The book:
Roark, a rebellious iconoclast who lives by his own standards, goes through immense pain & agony in his struggle against traditionalists. Roark, a young architect with unyielding integrity, is ardently in love with Dominique, a free, powerful & strong woman who will leave him to marry his most prominent enemy, Keating. Roark, who will not bend to society’s will…
You will either love or hate this much-controversial novel.

The author:
After the took over, Alisa Rosenbaum left & settled in the . Initially, she failed as novelist. Then she developed the notion of & joined the rank of distinguished philosophers. Having lived under the rule of , she opposed & state interference in the lives of individuals, & supported free market & . She denounced the subordination of reason to faith. She has been vilified by the & the conservatives.
Her influence on was substantial.

Interested readers:
, , , .

Quote:
“I wish to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others. . . The world is perishing from an o**y of self-sacrificing.” – Roark


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