Month: June 2020

Book: Isaac Babel “Collected Works. Volume 1”

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The way Jewish Odessans speak is something I find incredibly charming—at least, how it’s portrayed, as I’ve never been to Odessa to see for myself. So, I love what I read in jokes or see in films. Two series have stood out to me for capturing the life of Odessa’s courtyards in such a delightful way.

Liquidation, directed by Sergey Ursulyak and starring Vladimir Mashkov as David Gotsman, is an excellent post-war detective story. Even more memorable than the main character is his friend Fima, brilliantly played by Sergey Makovetsky. Lines like, “Return the stolen goods to the calloused hands! You still have to eat off them!” are unforgettable.

The second series is the lighter The Life and Adventures of Mishka Yaponchik, which also plays as a musical, featuring outstanding musical numbers inspired by the songs of the American Barry Sisters. We know that much of what we know about the legendary Odessa gangster Mishka Yaponchik comes thanks to Isaac Babel, who based his character Benya Krik, the “King,” on him. The series builds on Odessa Stories by Babel, though here Benya is called by his real-life inspiration’s name—Mishka Yaponchik.

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Book: Gareth Moore “Lateral Logic”

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Since childhood, I’ve loved logic puzzles, IQ tests, and other brain teasers. In 2018, I found a book by Gareth Moore called Lateral Logic, which is essentially a collection of tasks aimed at developing thinking skills. The subtitle sums it up: A Puzzling Path to Non-Standard Thinking.

The book is divided into three parts by difficulty level. The first part serves as a warm-up and introduction to this type of puzzle, with examples illustrating the thought process needed to solve them. Then, it gets harder, with the third part reserved for masters of the craft. Each puzzle includes several hints that don’t give away the answer directly but are meant to steer you in the right direction.

It sounds like paradise for enthusiasts like me. And at first, I did enjoy it. But as I progressed, doubts started to creep in, certain puzzles began to irritate me, and by the end of the book, I had solidified my mixed feelings about its content.

There are definitely some interesting puzzles in the book that are fun to work through. Some I was already familiar with or knew the approaches, thanks to skills I’d developed long ago. But overall, the book didn’t really resonate with me, leaving my final rating rather low. So, why is that?

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Game: FRAMED Collection

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This week’s unexpected discovery—FRAMED. Or rather, two games, as it’s sold as the FRAMED Collection, including both parts.

The game is remarkable for its concept: it tells a story through an interactive comic. Each level is like a page from a comic where you can interact with the “frames.” As you progress, new actions become available. At first, you can only swap two frames. Then, you must create a sequence that leads to the desired outcome. Each attempt shows how the story unfolds with the current sequence, helping you understand what went wrong. Eventually, you can rotate frames or change them mid-action, even multiple times.

Add to that vividly drawn silhouette-style characters, and the game becomes nearly a masterpiece.

It’s rather short, though. Both parts together took me around two hours. But my whole family was captivated, one by one, fascinated by the idea and the mechanics.

I highly recommend it to all puzzle game lovers. It’s worth every cent, 100%. And right now, it’s on a 60% discount on Steam, making it practically a steal.

Boris Akunin “The Un-Chekhovian Intelligentsia”

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When I read Boris Akunin’s book The Life of Remarkable People and Animals a year ago, I had no idea that it was merely a selection of entries from the author’s blog. Moreover, it turned out to be the second part, and I had completely missed the first one. Then, one day, I came across a familiar-looking cover in my recommendations—aha, so that’s the first volume! Titled The Un-Chekhovian Intelligentsia.

Let me remind you that both books together (which I now know) form a collection of rather short notes by the author about various interesting people and facts, initially published by Boris Akunin on his blog, and later released as a book with the subtitle Short Stories About All Sorts of Things.

Yet, regardless of how much the author may veil it with this “all sorts of things,” it’s quite clear that he is primarily interested in people and their lives. The topics are very diverse: tyrants and geniuses, holiday histories, revolutionaries and the civil war, British spies and love stories… but all of it revolves around people.

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Heather Morris “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”

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Those who have known me for a long time remember that the Holocaust holds a special place on my list of important subjects. I read about it myself, and I tell my children what happened and how it happened. Such things must be remembered. So, not a year goes by without me reading a book on the topic or watching a related film.

No one recommended The Tattooist of Auschwitz to me; I happened upon it on a bookstore shelf, and then my wife read it before I did. Although it’s a novel, it is based on the real-life memories of Lale (Ludwig) Sokolov, who worked as a tattooist in Auschwitz for several years during the war, survived, and eventually moved to Australia.

Heather Morris, the author, merely recorded his memories and turned them into a novel. Before this book, she wasn’t well known, working in a hospital and trying her hand at screenwriting. Then she was introduced to Lale…

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Diane Setterfield “The Thirteenth Tale”

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Once upon a time, there was a writer. She was both famous and incredibly mysterious. In all her interviews, she never gave a truthful answer about herself or her family. Instead, she would tell a new, wonderful story each time. Just before her death, she invites biographer Margaret Lea to visit, promising to tell the true story of her life.

And she does tell it. It’s a tale as intricate as the plots of her other books, perhaps even surpassing them.

It’s a rather dark story, reminiscent of Jane Eyre (a book mentioned several times in the novel) and Consuelo. Yet it’s told in such a way that one cannot doubt it could have truly happened. Margaret Lea, and therefore the reader, has no reason to doubt.

The story ends, the lives of all the characters are recounted, and the mysteries are revealed. Only two questions remain unanswered. The old writer herself didn’t know the answer to the first. The second question isn’t even a question, but rather a small box filled with childhood treasures. Its appearance at the end of the book could signify something simple, or it could suggest that everything told was just another fairy tale and nothing more. But we’ll never know the answer—the writer has passed away.

The book is often described as a new Gothic novel and a revival of classic English literature from the Brontë era. I think the book will appeal to those who love the atmosphere of mysteries and secrets in decaying English estates, where both servants and masters have their own secrets, hidden safely within the old mansion, and the story spans multiple generations.

A film adaptation was released in 2013. I only saw the trailer, which captures the novel’s spirit well. However, I had pictured Margaret Lea as much younger.

Diane Setterfield “The Thirteenth Tale”buy