Monthly reads: June 2022

 


I don't feel like I've actually read a single book this month, but at least I managed to finish these three. Not very impressive though.

U2532: Bis zum bitteren Ende (Erik Maasch)

I kind of enjoy reading this kind of German WWII submarine stories, even though I'm not especially into marine warfare. (I am interested in WWII though, but I know a lot more about tanks and planes than ships and subs.) This one was also pretty entertaining, as it showed the final days and hours of the war and how everything ended for them when it had in fact ended long ago. It's not especially deep or anything (no pun intended, although it would be a good one!), but it's a decent read. I'll read more of it if I'll occasionally get some of the books for cheap.

Die schlafenden Schönen (Yasunari Kawabata)

Haven't read japanese literature in ages (or that's how it feels, would need to look it up) and this one was a good place to start again. I'd say that Kawabata is one of my favourite Japanese authors of the 20th century as there wasn't a single one I didn't like among the books of his I've read so far. This story about old men and sleeping young women was oddly mesmerising and entertaining, even though it also felt wrong to gaze at the 'sleeping beauties' through the eyes of Eguchi, one of those very men. Nevertheless, it made me feel all sorts of things and it's also thought-provoking and that's what I like most about Kawabata's stories.

Für die Freiheit sterben (James M. McPherson)

I have been reading on this huge book for literal ages and I'm so glad I'm done now. It was an interesting read, but sometimes I got confused by all those names of people and battles. Also, the blatant racism of the olden times was sometimes pretty hard to stomach. So, not an especially pleasant read, but still very good.