5 books to pick up over the Easter break

The Easter holidays bring us a few days of peace and rest, but also a good opportunity to read some books (or at least to start reading them). In case you are undecided, in the Panorama editorial office we have put together a list of five reading recommendations, one more different than the other.

We have a novel about what life is like when you are not on the sentimental mold of society, a book about the Cold War, which helps us understand what is happening in Ukraine today, but also one about two sentimental stories, which intersect among the bombings of the -WWII.

Then we have two more novels: a classic that will make you pause and be grateful for the moments you spend with your loved ones, and one about something that may soon become a reality: human loneliness in the face of artificial intelligence.

Almond (by Sohn Won-Pyung)

In society, the greater the support you may receive from others, the greater the disgrace you may fall into if you are in any way out of “the world’s order.”

And in the novel by the South Korean writer Sohn Won-Pyung, we see exactly that: how hard it can be for you in society, if you don’t react like the others.

Protagonist Yun-jae is unable to feel emotions, from fear and affection to anger, due to a brain condition called alexithymia. Because of this he has no friends, his mother and grandmother trying their best to explain to him what are the normal reactions and responses to banal exchanges at school.

However, Yun-jae quickly comes to be labeled as a monster who, even when bestially beaten, has no reaction. However, things begin to change when another “monster” appears in his life.

Sohn Won-Pyung is known for her writing dealing with themes of human existence and development, while also having action that unfolds in quick leaps. “Almond” is no exception: it is written in a simple manner, without metaphors or long descriptions, and from a moment of silence you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a moment of intense violence. So it’s a novel that you won’t get bored of, because it’s thrilling and the reading flows quickly. You can find the book at Cărturesti. (Dana Mischie)

The Cold War: A World History (by Odd Arne Westad)

It is impossible to understand deeply how did Russia end up invading Ukraine without knowing about the Cold Warand Odd Arne Westad’s 2017 book is one of the best resources for those who want to get to the bottom of a conflict that marked the last century and still influences the present.

In nearly 700 pages, Westad provides one of the most profound explorations of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US, and examines the political, economic, social and cultural sides of this conflict.

Just as importantly, Westad leaves nothing to chance and is careful to look at all the places in the world affected by tensions with the Soviets, not just the most obvious. It’s a long and detailed book, but it’s written in an accessible way, so it’s fairly easy to follow for those interested in the subject. You can find the book on Elefant or Amazon. (Vlad Dumitrescu)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (by John Boyne)

Two boys born on the same day become friends despite a fence separating them. Through children’s eyes, life outside and inside is watched Out-With (actually, Auschwitz).

Bruno doesn’t really understand why his family is not very happy when the father, the head of the family, is moved somewhere in the country, next to a field with many shacks surrounded by a fence. In fact, when they asked him at school what his father was, he couldn’t really say either, he just knew that he was an important man, that he wore a very nice uniform, and that Fury had big plans for him.

His father is actually a high-ranking SS officer assigned to run the camp.

From his new home, Bruno goes to investigate why do all the people over the fence wear striped pajamas and live together although they do not appear to be related. On the other side of the fence, he discovers Shmuel, who doesn’t know exactly why he’s there either. Over time, a friendship is formed between the two, and Shmel tells Bruno about his life before living in the camp. But each tells his life from behind his side of the fence.

When Bruno’s father decides to send his family back to Berlin for a while, Bruno returns to the fence and, using the camp clothes his friend gave him, crosses to the other side of the fence to he was trying to find Shmuel’s father, who had been missing for several days along with other people from the camp.

I won’t reveal the ending here, because the book is worth reading cover to cover. “The Boy in Striped Pajamas” was published in Romanian by Rao publishing house. (Cristina Dobreanu)

“Klara and the Sun” (by Kazuo Ishiguro)

Klara is an AF, I mean a artificial friend (Artificial Friend), bought to stay with a little girl, Josie, who is getting sick.

The action takes place in a future that we don’t know much about, but which you feel, periodically, that you can grasp, that it is possible, if not probable. One where we were so alone in our hermetic worlds tweaked with futuristic engineers that we created friends for the children we genetically engineered to be smarter.

“Until recently, I didn’t think people could choose loneliness. That there are sometimes stronger forces than the desire to avoid loneliness”, notes Klara.

In fact, this is what “Klara and the Sun” is about: about loneliness and about humanity, in the face of artificial intelligence. And even though it’s a dystopia, it still manages to be incredibly warm, precisely because of the naïve robot you can’t help but like.

Until she went home with Josie, Klara’s world was exclusively the one she saw in the window of the AF shop. And when her world suddenly becomes bigger and sunnier, because she no longer depends on the slices of sun that fall through the skyscrapers and into the shop window, Klara comes to love nature more than the people she was created for. It charges from the sun not only literally, but also figuratively.

You may know Kazuo Ishiguro from two much more famous and award-winning books he wrote: “Don’t Leave Me” and “The Remains of the Day.” Or because he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017. You can buy “Klara and the Sun” here, in Romanian or English. Or from Amazon if you have a Kindle. (Alina Mărculescu-Matis)

All the Light We Cannot See (by Anthony Doerr)

American Anthony Doerr’s novel (All the Light We Cannot See) tells the parallel stories of a blind girl, Marie, who lives in France, and a German orphan named Werner, who ends up growing up in the ranks of the Nazi youth. Their lives intersect during World War II.

Nazi Germany invades Europe, and the two protagonists navigate this dark reality, seen from two totally different perspectives, but which end up having a lot in common.

The war briefly brings them together in Saint-Malo, a French city bombed by the Germans and liberated by the Americans, after they know each other through radio transmissions. It’s also in the middle the race for a mysterious diamond, which is believed to bring eternal life to its possessor. The Nazis are looking for him, the blind Marie ends up guarding and hiding him. The story continues after the war, reaching the present day.

Composed as a fragmented labyrinth, which alternates between the perspectives and narrative planes of the two characters, the novel is written at an alert pace, but loaded with symbols related to war and its implications on human nature. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2015 and was made into a mini-series that can be seen on Netflix. The Romanian translation was published by Humanitas. (Andrei Luca Popescu)

Article edited by Andrei Luca Popescu