Book Review – The ramblings of the Boar

Materialistische Staatskritik

The last Christmas present I received is the book ” Materalistische Staatskritik” by Moritz Zeiler. I had wanted it for Christmas after a friend had recommended it to me. This book was published by Schmetterlingsverlag in 2017.

This book opens with the statement that Karl Marx’s work, by and large, focuses particularly on a critique of the capitalist economy. Criticism of the actual state system can be found in isolated quotes, but Marx died before he could write and publish his planned work on state criticism. Because of this, there are so many different political currents in the left-wing party spectrum, all of which have different analyses, critiques, and goals regarding the form of the state. Whether it is in the chumming up to the capitalist economic state, the goal of reform or the goal of revolution. This book attempts to present the different currents and theoretical backgrounds.

The book has about 170 pages and is therefore a small paperback. The font is chosen small and compact and on each page is a packed with content without many paragraphs formatted. The language is very academic and one should therefore have a good vocabulary to fully understand it.

As someone who is only marginally involved in politics, I think reading a book like this is necessary to educate myself politically.

Japanese cookbooks

This christmas I also got three Japanese cookbooks as a gift. First “Japan das Kochbuch”(Japan the cookbook). It is a big bible like cookbook about real traditional Japanese cuisine, its history and recipes from appetizers to dessert. This book is really thick and has beautiful pictures of the dishes.

The second book is “Einfach Authentisch Japanisch Kochen” (simply authentic Japanese cooking). It is a lot thinner then the first one and also has a lot of western influenced japanese dishes in it like curry rice and melonpan. There are less real photos in it and more drawings of ingredients and dishes.

The last book is called “Manga Kochbuch Japanisch” (Manga cookbook Japanese). From the theme there are a lot of dishes that a well known from Anime and Manga and dishes that are favorites of japanese Teens. This book has a combination of drawn art and some nice vibrant photos.

Snow, Glass, Apples

One of the presents I got on christmas eve was the graphic novel Snow, Glass, Apples. Written by my favourite author Neil Gaiman and drawn in gorgeous art by Colleen Doran.

The graphic novel is an adaption of the classic Snow White story but with a special twist. In this story the stepmother is not an evil Queen. It asks the question: Why did the queen really want to have Snow White killed? Spoiler alert: It was not because she was far more beautiful than she was.

This novel takes us back in to a time when fairy tales were not squeaky clean feel good storys from Disney. But to a time when they were raw, bloody and creepy. Pick this book up for a quick read and a interesting an dark twist on these famous tale.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book is yet another Book written by the Great Neil Gaiman. Yes my dearest reader you surely have noticed that i am working myself through his catalogue right now xD.

The Book is a homage to the Jungle Book, telling a similar Story. The Protagonist is the Boy Bod. But Bod is just his Nickname as he was named Nobody Owens by his adoptive Parents who raise him living at a graveyard. Where he got protection from the mysterious murderer of his birth parents.

It’s a fun and spooky Story that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. It tells different short episodes in the life of Bod until he comes of age. It’s a Book about horror’s, mysteries, bully’s, standing up for oneself and the trust and love we but in our real Family and Friends.

While playing in present day England we get to know many different Monsters or rather characters of Mythology, like Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolfs, Ghouls and old celtic curses and even a Manisfestation of Death.

With that the Graveyard Book is a great Story full of adventure and Mystery.

Coraline

The title of this Story was a lucky Mistake by it’s Author Neil Gaiman. He started to write a story about a little Girl, just like his daughter. He wanted to call her Caroline. But on paper he twisted the letters and he thought, Coraline sounds like a real name. Weird maybe, but real.

Coraline is the Story of a little smart Girl. She and her Parents just moved into a new Flat and Coraline is ready to explore her new neighbourhood. She gets to know her new quirky neighbours, a circus of singing mice and a suspicious black cat.

Her exploring leads her to a strange place where she has to engage with an old and deceptive Evil.

Coraline is a great scary read and teaches some quite excellent lessons about what true bravery is and the value of the mundane everyday life.

Fortunately the Milk

“Fortunately the Milk” in the Edition in front of me is Childrens Book written by Neil Gaiman and Illustrated, like so often, by the great Chris Riddell. It was published 2013 by Bloomsbury.

The plot of the Story is easily explained: a Dad is left alone with his two Kids, as his Wife is on a important Business Trip. The Milk is empty and the Dad has forgotten to buy a new one. To safe the Family Breakfast from ruin he steps out to buy some.

What starts as a mundane everyday Story develops faster than Light to a colorful Adventure as the Dad in his quest for Milk is Meeting Aliens, Dinosaur Space Cops, an Aztec God and many more strange figures through the space time continuum.

It’s a fun and silly Story that will lighten your heart 😀

Art Matters

Art Matters is a motivational Book written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chriss Riddel. My edition was published in the year 2018.

The book is quite short but beautifully illustrated very fitting to the contents of each Essay. The Book is basically a compilation of different Essays about Art and the Process of Creation written by the author. The Essays are titled: “Credo”, “Why our Future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming”, “Making a Chair” and “Make Good Art”.

The book talks about our power of imagination, learning from other people, cultures and stories. It’s about the joy of writing and creating. The worries and hopenessless of an Artist. The motivation for creation in the first place and how it will influence the world view of our children.

It’s a very short read, beautifully written and inspirational!

The Courage to be Disliked – Introduction

The Courage to be Disliked from Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga is a Book I’ve read and it deeply impressed me. It impressed me so much that i want to note down the main points of the book and want to share them.

The “plot” of the book starts with a young man, unsatisfied with his own life, who is visiting a known philosopher. This philosopher claims that:

The worls is simple
Every human can change
Every human can find happiness

The young man can’t except these claims and wants to have a discussion with the philosopher about it. Which he gladly accepts, as he also wants to learn from the young. And so the book goes on in the form of a dialog between the young man and the philosopher.

The young man(YM) can’t accept that the world is simple. A simple world only exists for children. Children know no worries, they have no responsibility’s and don’t have to worry about money. Their parents and society protects them. When the child grows up, it’s world becomes a lot more complicated. There are personal relationships, work and money to be taken care of. In the past humans tried to please the gods and to follow religion. But nowadays religion has lost most of it’s power. People have to think for themselves. This makes the world complicated. There are a lot of contradictions in the world.

The philosopher(P) answers that yeah, what YM says is right. But still the world is simple. It is the human that makes the world complicated. Or more like, it’s the human who sees the world as such an complicated thing. Ones worldview is highly subjective. For example: Water in a fountain keeps relative constantly the temperature of 18° Celsius. But in the summer this is refreshing and in the winter quite warm. But the 18° is a objective fact. That fact doesn’t change. It is the view the humans have on it that changes. In the same way, if the world is complicated, then it’s the human that has to change and start to see the world how it really is. A person needs the bravery to see the world in the way it is. To make that change.

YM goes on to the other thesis. A person can’t change. He knows that, because he himself is unable to change. P says that he can understand that notion. He himself had it in his younger years. At that time he studied the ancient Greek classics. But then he started to study a new philosophy and everything changed for him.

He leads YM into his study and offers him coffee. He says it will be a long night. And in this way the introduction ends.

Odd and the Frost Giants, a book review

Odd and the Frost Giants is a story written by Neil Gaiman in 2008 for the World Book Day. Gaiman is well known through the Amazon Prime series American Gods and Good Omens, which are based on his works. But he has also gained fame through the movies Stardust and Coraline based on his stories. I personally only became aware of him when I happened to get hold of his book on Nordic myths.

With only under 100 pages this book is a short story suitable for children. The edition was illustrated by illustrator Mark Buckinham. Even though this story is probably written for children, it also has its charm for adults. Gailman achieves this by making profound connections to Nordic myths and choosing timeless themes.

The story begins in a small Norwegian village during the Viking Age. The spring months have already begun, but there is still an unusually harsh winter. Odd has recently been half-orphaned, as his father was killed on a Viking journey. Therefore, to feed the family Odd’s mother decided to remarry. As many stepparents do, Odd is treated badly by his new stepfather and older stepbrothers and sisters. Unable to endure the verbal and physical violence, he takes off into the woods to his father’s hut, who was a mainly a forester and carpenter. There he meets three animal companions and together they get to the bottom of the origin of the continuous winter.

Gaiman has a deep knowledge of Nordic mythology which he proves in this story and has borrowed many characters from it. The plot is practically a continuation of several different myths. The whole cast of characters is extremely likeable, even the antagonist of the ice giant is not a blunt villain. And even if they give Odd a hand, his companions are no innocent. This gives them all a three-dimensional quality. However, the most interesting thing about Odd is that he is a disabled boy who bravely overcomes adventure not by brute force, but by his bright head.

And in my opinion, this underlines the most important theme of this book: It doesn’t matter what you are. It depends on what you make of it! And I consider this an important lesson. Therefore from me, absolute a reading recommendation!