InterRail by Alessandro Gallenzi: book review

InterRail (2012) is set in Europe in 1992. The protagonist is young, naive 22-year-old Francesco, from the provincial town of Genzano in Italy.

Francesco wants an adventure and time away from his university studies, and buys a one-month InterRail ticket which enables him to travel by train throughout Europe, hopping on and off as the whim takes him. He travels light – everything is in one small bag that he throws over his shoulder. This is his first time travelling abroad.

He sets out from Rome, and the second day he meets the outrageous entrepreneur Pierre Cordier from Corsica. The decisions he makes takes Francesco off course, but he didn’t really have a ‘course.’ He meets regular and extravagent people; people he imposes upon and mostly people who impose upon him – such as an older married woman who asks him for a favour – and sets him on a path of mysterious intrigue, a bashing, and a robbery.

From Rome to Bologna, Munich, Cologne, Berlin, Wittenberg, Lund, Stockholm, Elsinore, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, Oxford, Paris, and Monte Carlo, he finds money, poverty, fun, adventure, deceit, and love. But what city does he decide to return to – to settle down – certainly not the provincial town, leaving his parents and sister behind.

InterRail is a light, easy travel read. Written in the third person, it is actually based on the author’s own experiences twenty years before the time of writing. Some of the characters and events go to the edge of credibility during the imbroglio scenes, although the situations with holiday love are better narrated.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog