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› Find signed collectible books: 'Bee Season'
In Myla Goldberg's outstanding first novel, a family is shaken apart by a small but unexpected shift in the prospects of one of its members. When 9-year-old Eliza Naumann, an otherwise indifferent student, takes first prize in her school spelling bee, it is as if rays of light have begun to emanate from her head. Teachers regard her with a new fondness; the studious girls begin to save a place for her at lunch. Even Eliza can sense herself changing. She had "often felt that her outsides were too dull for her insides, that deep within her there was something better than what everyone else could see."
Eliza's father, Saul, a scholar and cantor, had long since given up expecting sparks of brilliance on her part. While her brother, Aaron, had taken pride in reciting his Bar Mitzvah prayers from memory, she had typically preferred television reruns to homework or reading. This belated evidence of a miraculous talent encourages Saul to reassess his daughter. And after she wins the statewide bee, he begins tutoring her for the national competition, devoting to Eliza the hours he once spent with Aaron. His daughter flowers under his care, eventually coming to look at life "in alphabetical terms." "Consonants are the camels of language," she realizes, "proudly carrying their lingual loads."
Vowels, however, are a different species, the fish that flash and glisten in the watery depths. Vowels are elastic and inconstant, fickle and unfaithful.... Before the bee, Eliza had been a consonant, slow and unsurprising. With her bee success, she has entered vowelhood.When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself."
Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest. Eliza's brainy, compulsive mother is also unmoored by her success. The spelling champion's newfound gift for concentration reminds Miriam of herself as a girl, and she feels a pang for not having seen her daughter more clearly before. But Eliza's clumsy response to Miriam's overtures convinces her mother that she has no real ties to her daughter. This final disappointment precipitates her departure into a stunning secret life. The reader is left wondering what would have happened if the Naumanns' spiritual thirsts had not been set in restless motion. A poignant and exceptionally well crafted tale, Bee Season has a slow beginning but a tour-de-force conclusion. --Regina Marler [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cumbres Borrascosas / Wuthering Heights'
This series of beautifully packaged and affordably priced editions of classic works of literature from all over the world encompasses a variety of periods, themes, and authors.
Los lectores tomarán un gran placer en descubrir los clásicos por estas bellas y económicas ediciones de literatura famosa y universal. Se representa una variedad de épocas, temas, y autores. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'
Mark Haddon's bitterly funny first novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Christopher John Francis Boone is a 15-year-old boy, mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behaviour of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbour's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbours--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars'
David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Bloom's Guides collection, presents concise critical excerpts from Snow Falling on Cedars to provide a scholarly overview of the work. This comprehensive study guide also features "The Story Behind the Story," which details the conditions under which Snow Falling on Cedars was written. This title also includes a short biography on Guterson and a descriptive list of characters. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Club De LA Buena Estrella'
En 1949, cuatro mujeres chinas emigradas a San Francisco se reunen regularmente para comer dim sum,jugar al mah-jong y hablar. Unidas por sentimientos de perdida y esperanza, se hacen llamar El Club de laBuena Estrella. Amy Tan explora la conexion entre las protagonistas y sus hijas, ya nacidas en Estados Unidos, un mundo totalmente distinto al suyo. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Nombre De La Rosa'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El nombre de la rosa / The Name of the Rose'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'God of Small Things'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird'
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. A guide to reading ""To Kill A Mockingbird"" with a critical and appreciative mind. Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird'
Plot synopsis of this classic is made meaningful with analysis and quotes by noted literary critics, summaries of the work's main themes and characters, a sketch of the author's life and times, a bibliography, suggested test questions, and ideas for essays and term papers. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harry Potter Y La Piedra Filosofal / Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone'
THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Il Nome Della Rosa'
"II libro più intelligente - ma anche il più divertente - di questi ultimi anni."Lars Gustafsson, Der Spicgel"II libro è così ricco che permette tutti i livelli di lettura ... Eco, ancora bravo!"Robert Maggiori, Libération"Brio e ironia. Eco è andato a scuola dai migliori modelli".Richard Ellmann, The New York Review of Books"Precisamente il genere di libro che, se fossi un milionario, comanderei su misura".Punch"Quando Baskerville e Adso entrarono nella stanza murata allo scoccare della mezzanotte e all'ultima parola del capitolo, ho sentito, anche se è fuori moda, un caratteristico sobbalzo al cuore."Nicholas Shrimplon, The Sunday Times"È riuscito a scrivere un libro che si legge tutto d'un fiato, accattivante, comico, inatteso ..."Mario Fusco, Le Monde"È un tipo di libro che ci trasforma, che sostituisce la nostra realtà con la sua ... ci presenta un mondo nuovo nella tradizione di Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Melville, Dostoevskij, lo stesso Joyce e Garda Miirquez."Kenneth Atchity, Los Angeles Times"Mi rallegro e tutto il mondo delle lettere si rallegrerà con me, che si possa diventare best seller contro i pronostici cibernetici, e che un'opera di letteratura genuina possa soppiantare il ciarpame ... L'alta qualità e il successo non si escludono a vicenda."Anthony Burgess, The Observer [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Jane Eyre'
A lo lejos el panorama presentaba un horizonte desdibujado de neblinas y nubes, mientras que en las proximidades de la casa podían verse los arbustos azotados por el temporal y extensiones de húmedo césped que soportaban el lastimero vendaval. [via]

› Find signed collectible books: 'Matar UN Ruisenor/to Kill a Mockingbird'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Name Of The Rose'
"A brilliantly conceived adventure into another time" (San Francisco Chronicle) by critically acclaimed author Umberto Eco. The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns to the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, and the empirical insights of Roger Bacon to find the killer. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey ("where the most interesting things happen at night") armed with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious curiosity. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Piano Tuner'
Daniel Mason's debut novel, The Piano Tuner, is the mesmerizing story of Edgar Drake, commissioned by the British War Office in 1886 to travel to hostile Burma to repair a rare Erard grand piano vital to the Crown's strategic interests. Eccentric Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll has brokered peace with local warlords primarily through music, a free medical clinic, and the "powers" of common scientific instruments, much to the dismay of warmongering officers suspect of such unorthodox methods. Drake is an introspective, well-mannered soul who, once there, falls in love with Burma and stays long past the piano-fixing to aid Carroll's political agenda. Drake's arduous journey to reach the outpost, however, takes far too long (nearly half the book) and the plotting is rather heavy-handed at times (one night, Drake learns of a mysterious "Man with One Story" who rarely speaks, and the very next morning the Man tells all to Drake). The story is ambitious, the language florid and sure to please, but the dialogue and melodrama are sometimes tedious. While out on the town with Carroll's love interest, Khin Myo (who enchants Drake), Mason offers the townspersons' view of Drake:
It is only natural that a guest be treated with hospitality, the quiet man who has come to mend the singing elephant is shy, and walks with the posture of one who is unsure of the world, we too would keep him company to make him feel welcome, but we do not speak English.... They say he is one of the kind of men who has dreams, but tells no one.Drake's complexity is thin; perhaps the beauty of Burma takes over any real need for introspection. Despite these quibbles, The Piano Tuner is a memorable achievement. --Michael Ferch [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Sarah'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Secret History'
Truly deserving of the accolade a modern classic, Donna Tartts novel is a remarkable achievementboth compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.
From the Trade Paperback edition. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Snow Falling on Cedars'
Fighting the distrust and prejudice of his neighbors on a remote island in Puget Sound, a Japanese-American man who spent time in an internment camp during World War II, finds himself on trial for murder. The histories of the accused and the victim, both fishermen and residents of the small town of San Piedro, unfold as newspaperman Ishmael Chambers embarks on a quest for the truth. Lonely and war-scarred, Chambers strives for justice and inner strength, while coming to terms with his ill-fated love for Hatsue Miyamoto, the wife of the accused. Evocative and beautifully written, Snow Falling on Cedars won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Snow Falling on Cedars'
Fighting the distrust and prejudice of his neighbors on a remote island in Puget Sound, a Japanese-American man who spent time in an internment camp during World War II, finds himself on trial for murder. The histories of the accused and the victim, both fishermen and residents of the small town of San Piedro, unfold as newspaperman Ishmael Chambers embarks on a quest for the truth. Lonely and war-scarred, Chambers strives for justice and inner strength, while coming to terms with his ill-fated love for Hatsue Miyamoto, the wife of the accused. Evocative and beautifully written, Snow Falling on Cedars won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Time Traveler's Wife'
Passionately in love, Clare and Henry vow to hold onto each other and their marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."
Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.
Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix Wilber [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Watership Down'
Watership Down has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, Watership Down is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.
The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. --Paul Hughes [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Afinador De Pianos / The Piano Tuner'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cumbres Borrascosas'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cumbres Borrascosas / Wuthering Heights'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Curioso Incidente Del Perro A Medianoche'
2005 SALAMANDRA Spanish Edition SOFTCOVER [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Desde Mi Cielo/from My Sky'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal'
Harry es húerfano de padre y madre y vive con sus tíos odiosos y su primo insoportable y malcriado. Por suerte Harry puede ir a un colegio especial de magia. Ágil y divertida, esta novela entretiene a grandes y chicos. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Matar UN Ruisenor/to Kill a Mockingbird'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mujer Del Viajero en el Tiempo'
Clare y Henry son en apariencia una pareja normal que lleva una vida corriente en Chicago. Él es bibliotecario y ella artista, pero la terrible verdad es que Henry sufre una extraña enfermedad que lo hace viajar en el tiempo, al pasado o al futuro sin previo aviso, normalmente fruto de una situación de estrés previa. Lo transporta desnudo, con desagradables malestares y vulnerable.
Cuando Henry tiene 31 años y Clare 23 se encuentran por primera vez. Y allí nace en tiempo presente su historia de amor, su vida en común de la que ocasionalmente Henry se ausenta propulsado a otras épocas de su vida y revisitando otros momentos felices o tristes, a veces encontrándose a sí mismo cuando era niño, con el temor de Clare de que no regrese de uno de esos viajes.
La historia se va desplegando contada a dos voces, bajo los puntos de vista de Clare y Henry, y enfoca las consecuencias de esta particularidad en su matrimonio y el amor apasionado que se tienen. Clare y Henry intentar llevar vidas normales, buscar una cura médica para la disfunción de Henry, ponerse objetivos a futuro, disfrutar de sus amigos y familia; aunque a veces se presenta la tentación de utilizar su capacidad de conocer el futuro para manejar el presente o evitar algún peligro... Pero todo ello está amenazado por algo que no pueden controlar ni prevenir: Henry puede viajar un día al futuro y descubrir que él ya no forma parte de ese tiempo, descubrir su propia muerte o la de sus seres queridos, ver a una Clare sola y envejecida, conocer a una hija que todavía no ha tenido y que heredará su extraña disfunción. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Nombre de la Rosa'
› Find signed collectible books: 'Denti Bianchi / White Teeth'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Il Dio Delle Piccole Cose'
Ammu, figlia di un alto funzionario, lascia un marito violento e torna a casa con i suoi bambini, i gemelli Estha e Rahel, maschio e femmina. Ma nellIndia meridionale dei tardi anni Sessanta, una donna divorziata come lei si ritrova priva di una posizione sociale riconosciuta, soprattutto se commette lerrore di innamorarsi di un paria. I gemelli vogliono bene a Velutha, lintoccabile che la madre può amare solo in segreto, e attraverso il loro sguardo, capace di cogliere le piccole cose e i piccoli eventi, prende forma la storia di un grande amore, in cui si riflette il tema universale dei sentimenti in conflitto con le convenzioni. Nei loro pensieri e nelle loro parole risuona la critica più radicale a ogni legge che stabilisce chi si deve amare, e come, e quanto. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Il Nome Della Rosa'
"II libro più intelligente - ma anche il più divertente - di questi ultimi anni."Lars Gustafsson, Der Spicgel"II libro è così ricco che permette tutti i livelli di lettura ... Eco, ancora bravo!"Robert Maggiori, Libération"Brio e ironia. Eco è andato a scuola dai migliori modelli".Richard Ellmann, The New York Review of Books"Precisamente il genere di libro che, se fossi un milionario, comanderei su misura".Punch"Quando Baskerville e Adso entrarono nella stanza murata allo scoccare della mezzanotte e all'ultima parola del capitolo, ho sentito, anche se è fuori moda, un caratteristico sobbalzo al cuore."Nicholas Shrimplon, The Sunday Times"È riuscito a scrivere un libro che si legge tutto d'un fiato, accattivante, comico, inatteso ..."Mario Fusco, Le Monde"È un tipo di libro che ci trasforma, che sostituisce la nostra realtà con la sua ... ci presenta un mondo nuovo nella tradizione di Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Melville, Dostoevskij, lo stesso Joyce e Garda Miirquez."Kenneth Atchity, Los Angeles Times"Mi rallegro e tutto il mondo delle lettere si rallegrerà con me, che si possa diventare best seller contro i pronostici cibernetici, e che un'opera di letteratura genuina possa soppiantare il ciarpame ... L'alta qualità e il successo non si escludono a vicenda."Anthony Burgess, The Observer [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Schnee, Der Auf Zedern Fallt'
David Guterson ist ein junger amerikanischer Autor, der gleich mit seinem ersten Roman einen Volltreffer gelandet hat. Schauplatz der Handlung ist eine kleine Insel im Puget Sound, an der Nordwestküste der USA. Ganz nebenbei bemerkt, auch David Guterson lebt dort mit seiner Familie.
Den Rahmen des Romans bildet eine Gerichtsverhandlung. Es ist das Jahr 1954 und der Lachsfischer Kabuo, japanischer Abstammung, ist des Mordes angeklagt. Er soll seinen früheren Freund Carl Heine umgebracht haben. Der Journalist Ishmael Chambers ist Beobachter und Berichterstatter des Prozeßverlaufs. Er kennt die beiden Hauptpersonen schon sein ganzes Leben.
Mit der heutigen Frau des Angeklagten verbindet ihn eine Jugendliebe, doch der Zweite Weltkrieg hat die ehemaligen Freunde auseinandergerissen. Die Japaner auf der Insel, die sich als Amerikaner fühlten und auf der Seite der Amerikaner in den Krieg ziehen wollten, wurden von diesen zurückgewiesen und in Internierungslager gebracht. Auch neun Jahre nach Kriegsende sind die damals geschlagenen Wunden noch nicht vernarbt.
David Guterson beschreibt das schwierige Verhältnis zwischen Amerikanern und Japanern mit sehr leisen Tönen, bedächtig, behutsam und informativ. Der Roman ist kein Reißer und verlangt das Zuhören, das genaue Hinhören. Das Erzähltempo gleicht den Schneeflocken, die langsam auf die Zedern außerhalb des Gerichtssaals herabgleiten. --Manuela Haselberger [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hari Butor Wa Hajar Al-fayasuf / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'
The Arabic Edition of the fascinating English thriller Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [via]
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