Ok, dieses Buch wollte ich seit Ewigkeiten lesen. Irgendwie hat Facebook begonnen, mir kurze Abschnitte aus dem Film zu zeigen, wahrscheinlich wegen der aktuellen Situation im Iran, sodass ich mich entschieden habe, endlich damit anzufangen.

Leider ist das Buch eindeutig von seiner Zeit überholt, übertrieben, rassistisch und sehr oberflächlich. Es ist die Geschichte einer Amerikanerin, die mit einem Iraner verheiratet ist. Obwohl vieles komisch oder falsch läuft, stimmt sie trotzdem ihrem Mann zu, mit ihm und ihrer Tochter in den Iran zu fliegen. Und sobald sie dort sind, will er nicht mehr in die USA zurück.

Vieles, was im Buch steht, ist faktisch einfach falsch. Ich habe extra recherchiert und sogar Nasrin, meine Kollegin, gefragt. Sie meinte ebenfalls, dass vieles einfach nicht wahr ist. Der einzige Grund, warum ich das ganze Buch überhaupt zu Ende gelesen habe, war, dass ich herausfinden wollte, wie sie schließlich entkommen ist.

Nachdem 90 % des Buches davon erzählen, wie schlimm dort angeblich alles war, wie schmutzig alles gewesen sein soll und wie schlecht erzogen die Menschen waren, wird erst auf den letzten Seiten beschrieben, wie sie mithilfe vieler Menschen aus dem Iran fliehen konnte. Aber Hauptsache, das Essen, das sie unterwegs bekommen hat, war schlecht, und die Leute waren nicht besonders freundlich …

Ich habe lange nichts so Undankbares gelesen. Leider habe ich auch keine Zitate markiert, weil es in diesem Buch nichts gab, bei dem ich mir gedacht hätte: Das ist klug oder ergibt Sinn.

Ich habe dieses Buch als sehr schlecht empfunden und würde es auf keinen Fall empfehlen. Ich kann verstehen, dass es in einer Zeit geschrieben wurde, in der die Menschen nicht besonders viele Möglichkeiten hatten, Dinge zu überprüfen. Aber genau deshalb finde ich, dass es heute kompletter Mist ist.

Fun fact: das Buch habe ich aber am Weg nach Prag und zurück gelesen und das war ein sehr schönes WE bei Sandi!

Trecând de la spaniolă la română, cartea asta o fost ca un joc de copil. Am primit-o de la Sandi ultima oară când ne-am văzut și am citit-o în 4 zile. Inițial mi s-o părut cumva plină de clișee, dar apoi mi-o plăcut cum fiecare capitol prezenta punctul de vedere al altui personaj. Iar sfârșitul mi s-o părut bun! Recomand, pe post de lectură ușoară și plăcută. Aici citatele:

“Viața e un șir de probleme pe care trebuie să le rezolvi.”

“- N-aș spune că lucrez. Pur și simplu nu am găsit altă soluție. Am senzația că am ajuns la capătul puterilor. Nu m-am îndoit nicio clipă că pot depăși greutățile din viață, dar cred că am obosit.
– Atunci odihnește-te.”

“Mi-am trăit viaţa acceptându-mi doar propriul adevăr. M-am înconjurat de oameni care mă ascultau, punând sentimentele mele mai presus de ale lor. Iar pe cei care nu-mi acceptau ideile pur și simplu îi scoteam din viaţa mea.”

“La urma urmei, viața e alcătuită din legăturile dintre oameni, care pot funcţiona doar comunicând. Acum am înţeles că fericirea nu e niciodată departe de noi, că o putem avea doar empatizând și comunicând cu oamenii de lângă noi. Sunt adevăruri pe care le-am învăţat puţin câte puțin […] Acela a fost momentul în care, în sfârşit, am înţeles ce trebuie să fac şi care e drumul meu.”

Ese libro fue mi recomendacion para el Book Club. Pues, la historia es asi: yo ya lei Miss Merkel – David Safier y me encanto el estilo, pense que el autor es super divertido. Asi que decidi regalarle ese libro a Kenny para Navidad de 2024. Pero Kenny empezo el libro y no lo termino, asi que estaba ahi de todos modos.

Despues de ‘Salem’s Lot – Stephen King, , que fue un libro de susto, complejo y largo, pense que seria tuani leer algo ligero y entreteniendo para el Book Club. Asi que nos decidimos por ese. Y una buena parte la lei durante mis vacaciones en la montaña, disfrutando un cafecito rico.

El libro si fue divertido para mi. Aunque lo lei en espanol y hubo algunas palabras que no entendia, me hizo reir a carcajadas un par de veces. La historia no es nada compleja, trata un poco de karma y reencarnacion, a veces hasta un poco absurdo, pero con un estilo de escritura muy facil.

No tengo citas, no encontre nada que me hiciera pensar: “Si, esto tiene sentido!”, pero aun asi me divirtio un monton leerlo. Es uno de esos libros que se sienten bien mientras los lees, sin cambiarte la vida. La aparicion de Casanova me parecio genial. El final fue un poco exagerado, aun si inesperado.

Ich hab das Buch im Oktober von Luki zum Geburtstag bekommen. Aber angefangen habe ich es in meiner Badewanne, an einem Februarabend, nachdem ich Eislaufen war und mir kalt war. Und dann habe ich den Großteil davon am Indischen Ozean in Südafrika gelesen, nur um es dann auf meinem Rückflug nach Rumänien zu beenden. Dieses Buch hat mich durch vieles begleitet.

Es ist ein Jugendbuch, eine klassische Liebes-Hass-Geschichte zwischen Teenagern. Es beginnt aber mit dem Sterben des Vaters, was mich tief berührt. Dabei musste ich immer wieder an meine eigene Beziehung zu meinem Papa denken und daran, wie sehr mich dieser Verlust eines Tages treffen wird. Erst danach hat sich die Liebesgeschichte entfaltet, was nicht unbedingt meins war, weil es eben zu kindisch und trivial war. Vor 15 Jahren hätte ich das sicher anders gesehen. Als mich das Buch dann auch noch ungeplant zum Begräbnis meiner Oma in Beclean begleitet hat, bekam aber alles irgendwie eine Bedeutung: Es hat mich daran erinnert, wie sich junge Liebe anfühlt, in einem Moment wo alles in Beclean, mit dem Tod meiner Oma, endgültig Geschichte geworden ist.

“Man sagt, das Herz ist wie der Schnee. Wagemutig und still und so beschaffen, dass es bei der ersten Wärme dahinschmilzt.”

“Am liebsten hätte ich mich einfach hingelet und geschlafen. Um vielleicht nie mehr zu erwachen, denn im Schlaf fand ich den Frieden, nach dem ich mich sehnte; die Wirklichkeit wurde dann ein fernes Universum, zu dem ich nicht mehr gehörte.”

“Man sagt, dass es fünf Phasen der Trauer gibt. Die erste ist die Verleugnung. Die Verleugnung des Verlustes, die Unfähigkeit, einen solch radikalen Schock hinzunehmen. Die anderen Phasen sind Wut, Verarbeitung, Depression und schließlich Akzeptanz. Ich konnte mich in keiner von ihnen wiedererkennen. Es war nicht so, dass ich die Realität leugnete. Ich konnte mich nur nicht damit abfinden.”

“Ich sehnte mich danach, dass er mir zu Füßen fiel, aber genauso danach, dass er mich mit sich in einen bodenlosen Abgrund zog. Er brauchte nur zu atmen, und ich hasste ihn dafür, welche Gefühle er damit in mir auslöste.”

“Ein Universum aus Feuer und Sternen toste durch meine Adern. Ich verbrannte unter Schauern, und einen Moment lang war das Einzige, was ich wahrnahm, das Delirium meines ungläubigen Herzens.”

Letztes Jahr im November habe ich mich entschieden, Bernd Das Paket von Sebastian Fitzek zu kaufen. Als ich es ihm dann geschenkt habe, hat er mich gefragt, ob ich Der Heimweg lesen will. Ja klar, warum nicht — ich lese alles, was ich kann. Und Bernd hat ja gesagt, dass das Buch schlimm ist, aber mir war nicht klar, wie schlimm.

Ok, ich habe Neamul Șoimăreștilor – Mihail Sadoveanu fertig gelesen und habe überlegt, was ich als Nächstes lesen kann. Vor allem, weil ich mit dem Zug in den Bergen unterwegs war, und dafür habe ich unbedingt etwas zum Lesen gebraucht. Also habe ich am 22.01. damit angefangen.

Das Buch hat mich von Anfang an angegraust. Ich habe gelernt, was “Violence Play” bedeutet. Und es hat mich höchst frustriert, dass es so viele Frauen gibt, die sich nicht wehren können oder wollen – das Motiv des Täters! Obwohl das ein Spoiler ist: Eine Frau hatte die Wahl, ob sie sich täglich von ihrem Mann quälen lässt oder ob sie von einem Serienmörder getötet wird. Ich würde dankend das Zweite nehmen, wenn ich nichts gegen den Mann machen kann.

Ja, das Buch war sehr explizit, mit vielen Geschehnissen, und das Ende war okay — die Hälfte davon habe ich schon geahnt. Ich würde es weder weiterempfehlen, noch würde ich etwas anderes von Fitzek lesen. Und ich habe auch keine Zitate dazu.

Nu e prima carte pe care am citit-o anul ăsta, dar vreau să scriu un singur post despre W.I.T.C.H., așa că începem totuși cu asta. Am luat cartea de Crăciun de la ai mei. M-am gândit: ce să citesc — Neamul Șoimăreștilor sau Frații Jderi? Mama o zis că mai bine Neamul Șoimăreștilor.

Imediat cum am început să o citesc, m-am gândit că o să renunț. Cartea o fost scrisă în 1915 și vorbește despre anii 1600, în Moldova, deci stilul în care e scrisă e foarte, dar foarte greoi. Din fiecare propoziție înțelegeam cam 80%. Multe arhaisme, cuvinte turcești (de exemplu tipuri de rang în armata moldovenească sau turcească) — o carte greu de citit. Apoi am căutat și am văzut că e recomandată ca lectură pentru clasa a VIII-a. Niciodată n-o să înțeleg recomandările astea din România, sunt total pe lângă.

Dar după ce am trecut de vreo 50–60 de pagini și m-o prins firul acțiunii, m-am obișnuit cu felul în care e scrisă cartea și chiar am vrut să aflu sfârșitul. Și mi-o plăcut! Totuși, nu cred că aș recomanda-o cuiva — poate doar dacă cineva e interesat de nuvele istorice și de cultura din „România” anilor 1600.

“Pe un om drept la înfăţişare şi la suflet l-a zidit acelaşi Dumnezeu care m-a zidit pe mine. Așa socot eu. Eu am avut dascăl în Lehia, fraţilor, pe un om foarte învăţat, şi el mi-a spus așa: că legea lui Mahomed, a lui Isa şi a lui Moise sînt date tot de Dumnezeu. El la fiecare a spus: A ta-i legea bună. Dar care-i cea mai bună numai el ştie. Toate-s bune, poate, şi el a înzestrat pe fiecare seminţie cu legea care i se potriveşte.”

“Asta-i boală moldovenească, zise iar tatarul rîzînd. De ce? N-ai cer necuprins pînă la Dumnezeu? N-ai stepă fără hotar? Omul trebuie să fie ca paserea văzduhului, și ochiul lui nu trebuie să încremenească asupra unei pietre… “

“Omul dorește mai cu samă ce-i lipseşte…”

“Şi poate dragostea ta învie ca floarea după ger. Poate-i mai tare decît ce-ai putut găsi între noi. Căci patimile tinereţii lasă urme ca de foc…”

“Uitarea este leac al multor dureri pe pămînt; dar nu toate sufletele oamenilor sînt ca apele care se tulbură, fac crețuri şi se zbuciumă în furtună, iar apoi s-alină şi-ntind un luciu curat, ca şi cum în veci nimic nu le-ar fi răscolit. Uneori durerile aprige lasă pe urma lor o drojdie de otravă: sînt suflete care cu greu se lămuresc.”

Dicht – Stefanie Sargnagel

Initial habe ich geglaubt, ich würde das Buch mögen, vor allem weil ich ein anderes von ihr lesen will (Iowa), aber Dicht war super repetitiv: sie war betrunken oder benommen und hat komische Leute getroffen, immer und immer wieder, bis ich aufgehört habe.

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

This one should have been a nice plot twist book for the book club. I tried, I really did, but it was so boring for me that I could not pass 100 pages. It had too many culture hints and philosophical whatever for me to go through.

Fundamentals of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention – Scott Straus

I found the book in my hotel in Warsaw while listening to news from Gaza, so I thought it was perfect. This would have been non-fiction, and I’m usually not into that. Surprise, surprise — I wasn’t into it! It felt like a paper I have to read for the university. It was respecting the structure of a scientific writing, hence being a bit repetitive, and I also got the feeling that I was not learning anything new, so I gave up.

Eleganța ariciului – Muriel Barbery

Cred că asta mi-o plăcut cel mai puțin. Chiar voiam să citesc altceva, în special în română, și am primit-o de la Sandi, dar nu am reușit să citesc decât câteva pagini. Ideea principală: o tanti care râde de tipicii bogătani care râd de tipicii sărăntoci. Meh, n-o fost genul meu deloc.

Männer sind anders. Frauen auch – John Gray

Das ist ein altes, sehr bekanntes Buch, das heute einfach nicht mehr aktuell ist. Es geht um die angeblichen Unterschiede zwischen Männern und Frauen. Ich dachte mir, es könnte trotzdem interessant sein, das zu lesen, um zu verstehen, wie früher über Beziehungen gedacht wurde. Aber weit bin ich nicht gekommen.

Die Szene, bei der ich endgültig aufgehört habe, beschreibt ein Paar, das mit dem Auto zu einem Hotel fährt. Der Mann fährt drei Mal daran vorbei, während die Frau genau weiß, wo es ist – sagt aber nichts. Laut dem Autor war der Mann ihr danach dankbar, weil ihm das so viel Selbstvertrauen gegeben habe, dass er sie noch mehr geliebt hat. Bitte was? Soooo ein Blödsinn.

Mehr konnte ich mir nicht antun. Solche Geschichten sind für mich kaum auszuhalten. Und dann ist mir eingefallen, dass ich dieses Buch schon vor Jahren einmal angefangen habe – mit genau demselben Ergebnis. Weit bin ich auch damals nicht gekommen. Sexistisches, veraltetes Zeug.

And since the new year began, I wanted to give a heads-up about what is coming this year:

• I have as a goal reading 12 books. Last year my goal was 8, but I read 14, so I suppose it’s doable.
• When visiting my parents back home for Christmas, I found my old W.I.T.C.H. collection, so I started reading my childhood books. I have two series, and from the first one I already read 2 out of 5, so that will be the next post soon!
• I took Neamul Șoimăreștilor from my parents, and I’m looking forward to read that, since I skipped it as a kid.
• Maybe I find the motivation to read Ken Follett again, I would love that.

Have a nice year, everybody!

If this isn’t the most hyped book of the year, I don’t know what it is! It was on my reading list since forever, and since I got it from Sandi while visiting Prague back in October, I decided to read it this year—and it will possibly be my last book for 2025, since I won’t be finishing the one I’m reading right now. Spoiler alert: I will start writing a yearly post regarding books I started but haven’t finished.

I remember reading Animal farm – George Orwell in the book club, and I also remember getting a bit frustrated by the topic, because it reminded me of Romania a lot. With 1984, these feelings didn’t get to me, because I am not so close anymore to such a society. But yes, some of the topics are relevant nowadays, like phones listening to everything we speak, the new way of speaking, or even the “doublethink” that makes people question everything and stop believing anything that doesn’t come from their “leader.” Mostly because of that, I enjoyed reading the first part of the book. But afterwards, it was boring and repetitive. I read some reviews that one has to consider the time the book was written in, and also that probably it was intentional to have flat characters, but for me it was hard, really hard, to finish it. It was rather short, so I fought through it, but it bored me to death.

I would recommend reading about the concepts in the book, which are quite interesting, especially if one is interested in how societies work and how masses can be controlled, but the book itself is flat, boring, and hard to get through. As for the quotes… these are quite long ones, but they make a lot of sense for me.

“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction – indeed, in some sense was the destruction – of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an aeroplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”

“Nor was it a satisfactory solution to keep the masses in poverty by restricting the output of goods. This happened to a great extem during the final phase of capitalism, roughly between 1920 and 1940. The economy of many countries was allowed to stagnate, land went out of cultivation, capital equipment was not added to, great blocks of the population were prevented from working and kept half alive by State charity. But this, too, entailed military weakness, and since the privations it inflicted were obviously unnecessary, it made opposition inevitable. The problem was how to keep the wheels of industry turning without increasing the real wealth of the world. Goods must be produced, but they must not be distributed. And in practice the only way of achieving this was by continuous warfare.

The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labour power without producing anything that can be consumed. A Floating Fortress, for example, has locked up in it the labour that would build several hundred cargo ships. Ultimately it is scrapped as obsolete, never having brought any material benefit to anybody, and with further enormous labours another Floating Fortress is built. In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. In practice the needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life; but this is looked on as an advantage. It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another.”

“Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have variej from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gym scope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other.
[…]
The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim – for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal. Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins over again. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims. It would be an exaggeration to say that throughout history there has been no progress of a material kind. Even today, in a period of decline, the average human being is physically better off than he was a few centuries ago. But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimetre nearer. From the point of view of the Low, no historic change has ever meant much more than a change in the name of their masters.”

I don’t usually write a post right after finishing a book, but today I was very motivated, so here it comes: ‘Salem’s Lot was an unexpected read for me, and even more unexpected was the fact that I actually enjoyed it—at least most parts of it. We picked it for the Book Club back in summer, when we were still optimistic that we’d meet around Halloween. Now we’re not even sure if we’ll manage to meet this year at all or if the whole thing will shift to January.

Back to the book—so, yes, it’s a horror story about vampires. Honestly, I never thought I’d willingly read something like that. My plan was: I’ll start it, and if it gets too creepy, I’ll just stop. But the writing surprised me. It felt grounded and realistic, especially the descriptions of daily life in a small town where everyone knows everyone. That part pulled me in more than anything—the slow build-up, the gossip, the secrets, the feeling that something is very wrong even before you can name it.

And yes, I did get scared a few times. I realized I’m much more afraid of the unknown than the actual danger. When King builds up the tension and you don’t yet know what’s going to happen… that’s when I got chills. During the first really intense scenes I was properly spooked. I even asked ChatGPT what happens next—and somehow that scared me too, haha. But interestingly, once the first direct interaction with the vampire happened, my fear sort of vanished. It’s like once the monster has a face, it becomes easier to handle.

Still, there were a couple of scenes that stuck with me afterwards. Let’s just say I made a strict rule: reading only during daytime. No exceptions, especially not before bed, because I know myself and I did not want to deal with nightmares.

But overall, I actually found the book good. And I learnd a thing or two about vampires! If you’re someone who gets scared easily, this is probably not the best pick. But if you can handle some eerie, unsettling moments—and if you enjoy small-town dynamics —you might enjoy it as much as I did. In the end, I was glad I pushed through. It was also my first Stephen King novel, and considering how much he’s talked about as a classic horror author, I’m happy that I managed to read it all.

“That explains it, then. I suspect his theory is a rather old parapsychological wheeze that humans manufacture evil just as they manufacture snot or excrement or fingernail parings. That it doesn’t go away.”

“Alone. Yes, that’s the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn’t hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym…”

“There is no life here but the slow death of days, and so when the evil falls on the town, its coming seems almost preordained, sweet and morphic. It is almost as though the town knows the evil was coming and the shape it would take.”

“Before drifting away entirely, he found himself reflecting—not for the first time—on the peculiarity of adults. Thet took laxatives, liquor, or sleeping pills to drive away their terrors so that sleep would come, and their terrors were so tame and domestic: the job, the money, what the teacher will think if I can’t get Jennie nicer clothes, does my wife still love me, who are my friends. They were pallid compared to the fears every child lies cheek and jowl with in his dark bed, with no one to confess to in hope of perfect understanding but another child. There is no group therapy or psychiatry or community social services for the child who must cope with the thing under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which leers and capers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will reach. The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and this is called adulthood.”

“A wise child recognizes it and submits to the necessary consequences. A child who counts the cost is a child no longer.”

“The basis of all human fears, he thought. A closed door, slightly ajar.”

This was my summer read, but I didn’t find the time to write about it right after I finished! The book is about 1,200 pages long, and I don’t remember reading something that big since The Century Trilogy – Ken Follett! I was reading it everywhere — at home, on my way to work, in Italy, in Poland, and then back home again, where I finally finished it. It took me around two months in total and I didn’t expect it to take me on such an incredible journey through feudal Japan.

I got the book from Sandi, and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about the differences between European and Asian (especially Japanese) culture in the early 17th century.. I kept thinking about how much harder it must have been back then, when understanding another language wasn’t easy at all. How difficult it was to communicate, to adapt, to truly understand another culture. I loved reading about Japanese society at that time — what it meant to love, to respect, to honor, to do politics; what it meant to be a man or a woman. And the way they were talking, always using methaphors: pillowing, joyful juice, heavenly chambers! The book was fascinating.

Kenny also got the audiobook and listened to the whole thing, so I was happy that it inspired him too! Afterwards, we watched the TV series together — but of course, there’s no real comparison, as usual!

Still, if you’re hesitating because of the size of the book, don’t. I enjoyed every single page! It’s one of those stories that stays with you long after you close the cover.

“‘Always remember, child’, her first teacher had impressed on her, ‘that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever-increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline training is about. So train your mind to dwell on sweet perfumes, the touch of this silk, tender raindrops against the shoji, the curve of this flower arrangement, the tranquillity of dawn.”

“A man’s fate is a man’s fate and life is but an illusion.”

“Why not laughter when an enemy’s outsmarted? Why not laughter to empty the tragedy from you when karma interrupts the beautiful death of a true samurai, when karma causes the useless death of a pretty girl?
Isn’t it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? Like tonight, watching all those brave men meet their fate here, on this shore, on this gentle night, through a karma ordained a thousand lifetimes ago, or perhaps even one.
Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?
Why doesn’t the pilot realize he’s governed by karma too, as I am, as we all are, as even this Jesus the Christ was, for, if the truth were known, it was only his karma that made him die dishonored like a common criminal with other common criminals, on the hill the barbarian priests tell about.
All karma.
How barbaric to nail a man to a piece of wood and wait for him to die. They’re worse than the Chinese, who are pleasured by torture.”

“Without them life must be very difficult. We have saying that a harigata’s like a man but better because it’s exactly like his best art but without his worst parts. Neh? And it’s also better because all men aren’t – don’t have sufficiency, as harigatas do. Also they’re devoted. Anjin-san, and they’ll never tire of you, like a man does. And too, they can be as rough or smooth.”

“Language is the key to anywhere foreign.”

“Men need to whisper secrets, Lady. That’s what makes them different from us – they need to share secrets, but we women only reveal them to gain an advantage. With a little silver and a ready ear -and I have both – it’s all so easy. Yes. Men need to share secrets. That’s why we’re superior to them and they’ll always be in our power.”