Mieke Lindenburg Books

Konstantin Irgoenov is een acteur die liever een rol op het toneel speelt dan in het leven. Hij is bereid zich bepaalde offers te getroosten als hij daardoor de rol kan krijgen waarvan hij al zo lang droomt: die van de valsspeler Satin in Maksim Gorki's 'Aan de grond'. Na talloze vernederingen en pesterijen lukt het Irgoenov de rol te krijgen en hij speelt de Satin-figuur schitterend. Maar toch helpen het daverende succes en een enthousiast artikel in de Moskouse Pravda hem geen milimeter verder op weg naar persoonlijke satisfactie. Integendeel, het succes dwingt hem tot nieuwe compromissen. De auteur trekt een parallel tussen het Rusland van de tsaren zoals dat in het begin van de twintigste eeuw beschreven is door Gorki, en de hedendaagse Sovjetunie. Talrijke problemen die actueel waren in het tsaristische Rusland dienen zich nu weer met hernieuwde kracht bij de homo sovieticus aan. In de eerste plaats het probleem van de menselijke vrijheid en het behouden van de eigen individualiteit. Zonder dit laatste is het zelfs in de kunstmatige, zo sterk op een theater lijkende wereld van een districtshoofdplaats in de Sovjetunie niet mogelijk een goed acteur te zijn.

The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.

The New Novel From The Orange Prize Winning Author Of We Need To Talk About Kevin It All Hinges On One Kiss. Whether Irina Mcgovern Does Or Does Not Lean In To A Specific Pair Of Lips In London Will Determine Whether She Stays With Her Disciplined, Intellectual Partner Lawrence Or Runs Off With Ramsey, A Hard-Living Snooker Player. Using A Parallel Universe Structure, We Follow Irina'S Life As It Unfolds Under The Influence Of Two Drastically Different Men. Lawrence Is Irina'S Partner Of Nearly Ten Years. Ramsey Is The Ex-Husband Of A Sometime Friend, A Once-A-Year Acquaintance To Whom Irina Has Never Paid A Great Deal Of Attention. Where Lawrence Is Supportive And Devoted; Ramsey Is Flighty And Spontaneous. Lawrence Is Emotionally Withdrawn To The Point Of Repression; Ramsey Is Fiery And Passionate, But Volatile. The Contrasts Between The Two Men Have Ramifications For Irina'S Relationships With Friends And Family, For Her Career As An Illustrator, And More Importantly, For The Texture Of Her Daily Life. This Love Is About Trade-Offs. Both Men In Irina'S Dual Future Are Worthy Of Her Affection But Deeply Flawed. The Answer Is That There Is No Perfect Answer: One Of The Things That Draws Us To Our Mates Is What Is Wrong With Them. The Post-Birthday World Is Written With All The Subtlety, Perceptiveness And Drama That Made We Need To Talk About Kevin An International Bestseller.

Another bucolic fall in northern New Hampshire, and the semester is under way at Bishop's Hill Academy. But this year the start of school has been less than tranquil. The new headmaster, Jim Hawthorne, has liberal ideas that the staff find far from welcome. He's also determined to do something about the long "tradition" of permanent loans to faculty of shovels, saws, even cars, from the school's supplies. Eloquent as he is on the subject of honor, rumor has it he's only taken this job to escape his past. And Hawthorne isn't the only uneasy newcomer. There's Jessica, a former stripper at fifteen, and Frank LeBrun, a replacement cook who's a bit too quick with a dirty joke. All three have secrets to conceal, memories to suppress.Serene on the surface, the ivy-clad, tree-lined campus gives few clues to the school's history of special privileges, petty corruptions, and hidden allegiances. But as autumn advances, the affable smiles and pretenses of virtue wear thin. And as winter closes in, students, teachers, and staff get an education in savagery and murder.