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1
No! I'm a stork! is the 2nd volume in the series Flying Starts.
The little sparrow vehemently rejects his own species because there's no future in being a little sparrow. The most you can hope for is to become a big sparrow - which is exactly what his father is, and that's the last thing in the world he wants to end up being!
The little winged tyrant and his harried father constantly quarrel over questions of life, beauty, freedom and the importance of self-acceptance as they fly over gloomy city skylines. more No! I'm a stork! is the 2nd volume in the series Flying Starts.
The little sparrow vehemently rejects his own species because there's no future in being a little sparrow. The most you can hope for is to become a big sparrow - which is exactly what his father is, and that's the last thing in the world he wants to end up being!
The little winged tyrant and his harried father constantly quarrel over questions of life, beauty, freedom and the importance of self-acceptance as they fly over gloomy city skylines. less See more recommendations for this book...
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Petros Markaris, David Connolly | 3.97
The open-and-shut case of a murdered Albanian couple does not at first preoccupy Inspector Costas Haritos, a veteran junta-trained homicide detective on the Athens police force. Βut when the country's young and ambitious celebrity news reporter, Janna Karayoryi, insists that the case was closed too early, Haritos becomes unnerved. Before Karayoryi's claims can be substantiated, however, she is murdered suddenly and chillingly, moments before she is to go on the air with a startling newsbreak. Did her mysterious report have something to do with the murdered Albanians? Who wanted her silenced?... more The open-and-shut case of a murdered Albanian couple does not at first preoccupy Inspector Costas Haritos, a veteran junta-trained homicide detective on the Athens police force. Βut when the country's young and ambitious celebrity news reporter, Janna Karayoryi, insists that the case was closed too early, Haritos becomes unnerved. Before Karayoryi's claims can be substantiated, however, she is murdered suddenly and chillingly, moments before she is to go on the air with a startling newsbreak. Did her mysterious report have something to do with the murdered Albanians? Who wanted her silenced? Caught between a bumbling junior officer and higher-ups corrupted by powerful news executives, Costas Haritos sets out to get to the bottom of the matter - and ends up neck deep in the dark form of captitalism that has emerged after the dictatorship. less 
Christos ChomenidisReally the main character of Markaris’s novel is Athens, the city itself. It’s the city liberated from its myths (Source)
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empeirikos andreas / εμπειρίκος ανδρέας | 4.38
Η Οκτάνα αποτελεί ένα από τα κορυφαία έργα της ελληνικής λογοτεχνίας, στο οποίο ο Ανδρέας Εμπειρίκος είχε οραματιστεί την ύπαρξη μιας ερωτικής οικουμενικής ουτοπίας, όπου οι άνθρωποι ζουν σε μια απόλυτη ευδαιμονία.
Το βιβλίο εκφράζει ένα συγκροτημένο φιλοσοφικό και κοσμικό σύστημα, που πραγματεύεται τον έρωτα, τον θάνατο και το όραμα ενός νέου κόσμου ως βασικά του θέματα. Αποτελείται από 31 πεζά κείμενα, λυρικής διάθεσης, τα οποία καλύπτουν μία μεγάλη χρονική περίοδο, γραμμένα από το 1958 μέχρι το 1965.
Και τώρα ο καθείς θα διερωτηθή ευλόγως: «Μα τί θα πη Οκτάνα;» more Η Οκτάνα αποτελεί ένα από τα κορυφαία έργα της ελληνικής λογοτεχνίας, στο οποίο ο Ανδρέας Εμπειρίκος είχε οραματιστεί την ύπαρξη μιας ερωτικής οικουμενικής ουτοπίας, όπου οι άνθρωποι ζουν σε μια απόλυτη ευδαιμονία.
Το βιβλίο εκφράζει ένα συγκροτημένο φιλοσοφικό και κοσμικό σύστημα, που πραγματεύεται τον έρωτα, τον θάνατο και το όραμα ενός νέου κόσμου ως βασικά του θέματα. Αποτελείται από 31 πεζά κείμενα, λυρικής διάθεσης, τα οποία καλύπτουν μία μεγάλη χρονική περίοδο, γραμμένα από το 1958 μέχρι το 1965.
Και τώρα ο καθείς θα διερωτηθή ευλόγως: «Μα τί θα πη Οκτάνα;»
Δίκαιον το ερώτημα και η απάντησις θα έλθη γρήγορα. Όμως διά να γίνη πλήρως νοητή, ρίξετε πρώτα μέσα σας μια καλή ματιά και ευθύς μετά ρίξετε άλλη μία τριγύρω σας δεξιά και αριστερά, πάνω και κάτω. Έπειτα κλείστε τα μάτια σας για μια στιγμή και ανοίξτε τα αποτόμως, ανοίγοντας διάπλατα και τις ψυχές σας. Η απάντησις θα βρίσκεται μπροστά σας, όχι μονάχα νοητή, μα και απτή — σώμα περικαλλές και έμψυχον και σφύζον.
Και τώρα (αμήν, αμήν) λέγω υμίν:
Οκτάνα, φίλοι μου, θα πη μεταίχμιον της Γης και του Ουρανού, όπου το ένα στο άλλο επεκτεινόμενο ένα τα δύο κάνει.
Οκτάνα θα πη πυρ, κίνησις, ενέργεια, λόγος σπέρμα.
Οκτάνα θα πη έρως ελεύθερος με όλας τας ηδονάς του.
Οκτάνα θα πη ανά πάσαν στιγμήν ποίησις, όμως όχι ως μέσον εκφράσεως μόνον, μα ακόμη ως λειτουργία του πνεύματος διηνεκής.
Οκτάνα θα πη η εντελέχεια εκείνη, που αυτό που είναι αδύνατον να γίνη αμέσως το κάνει εν τέλει δυνατόν, ακόμη και την χίμαιραν, ακόμη και την ουτοπίαν, ίσως μια μέρα και την αθανασίαν του σώματος και όχι μονάχα της ψυχής.
Οκτάνα θα πη το «εγώ» «εσύ» να γίνεται (και αντιστρόφως το «εσύ» «εγώ») εις μίαν εκτόξευσιν ιμερικήν, εις μίαν έξοδον λυτρωτικήν, εις μίαν ένωσιν θεοτικήν, εις μίαν μέθεξιν υπερτάτην, που ίσως αυτή να αποτελεί την θείαν Χάριν, το θαύμα του εντός και εκτός εαυτού, κάθε φοράν που εν εκστάσει συντελείται.
Απόσπασμα από το ποίημα “Όχι Μπραζίλια μα Οκτάνα” (1965). less See more recommendations for this book...
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Costas Taktsis, Leslie Finer | 3.49
5
Markos Vamvakaris, born in 1905 in Syros was a pioneer of rebetiko, the urban folk music of Greece. The bouzouki was a disreputable instrument but he paved its path to glory. He spent many years, first as a stevedore in the port of Piraeus and then as a butcher in the slaughterhouse. During this time he fell in love with a tigress, his first wife, he learnt to smoke hashish and to play the 'sacred' instrument: 'I had a great passion. My life was all bouzouki. It took me over - but it also took me up in the world, way up ...' This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography... more Markos Vamvakaris, born in 1905 in Syros was a pioneer of rebetiko, the urban folk music of Greece. The bouzouki was a disreputable instrument but he paved its path to glory. He spent many years, first as a stevedore in the port of Piraeus and then as a butcher in the slaughterhouse. During this time he fell in love with a tigress, his first wife, he learnt to smoke hashish and to play the 'sacred' instrument: 'I had a great passion. My life was all bouzouki. It took me over - but it also took me up in the world, way up ...' This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography compiled by Angeliki Vellou Keil in 1972. It opens a window onto a time of extraordinary creativity in the history of Greek music, an explosion of songwriting in the interwar period. Its composers wrote about themselves and each other, the rituals of hashish smoking and the landmarks of a now vanished city. Markos the repentant sinner and living legend, looks back at childhood idylls in Syros, the arrival of the Asia Minor refugees, the terrible years of the Nazi Occupation, the ceaseless love affairs and disappointments, and the triumphs of the bouzouki. He offers a rare insight into the lives of toiling workers and the lowlife of one of the world's most ancient ports, where East meets West. Out of this melting pot he produced the classic songs that Greeks of all ages still love and know by heart. less Christos ChomenidisThis is one of the greatest books I have ever read. The writing is raw, straightforward, but poetical in a cultural way (Source)
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