You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
buddhafish 's review for:
Awake
by Harald Voetmann
102nd book of 2022.
I'm leaving this unrated because it's such a difficult thing to pin down. I picked Voetmann up for my flight to Copenhagen, being a contemporary Danish writer, and read bits and pieces of him throughout my stay and now back here in England, too. The title presumably comes from this quote from Naturalis Historia, 'I am adding hours to my life: for living only means to be awake.'
The book is a combination of quotes from the aforementioned text by Pliny the Elder and fictional scenes, monologues, etc., from the writer himself and Pliny the Younger. It's a fairly abstract book. Having some knowledge of ancient Rome would probably help, luckily I studied it for two years and have an interest in the era, and many of the names were familiar (though I never studied Pliny). Pliny the Elder famously died after rushing towards the erupting Mount Vesuvius and becoming ash. His life's work, working on the Naturalis Historia (an attempt to catalogue the whole world) was passed onto his nephew. The book is called a 'comic delight': I don't see that, though I did find many parts fascinating and somewhat playful. The scene that sticks with me the most is Pliny the Elder taking a woman to his bedroom, a woman with no orifices. The man who sells her for the evening to him tells him not to attempt to create any holes in her by cutting her. So, Pliny rubs his genitals all over her hole-less body, feeling more aroused than he has ever felt. Something about the unattainable.
I'm leaving this unrated because it's such a difficult thing to pin down. I picked Voetmann up for my flight to Copenhagen, being a contemporary Danish writer, and read bits and pieces of him throughout my stay and now back here in England, too. The title presumably comes from this quote from Naturalis Historia, 'I am adding hours to my life: for living only means to be awake.'
The book is a combination of quotes from the aforementioned text by Pliny the Elder and fictional scenes, monologues, etc., from the writer himself and Pliny the Younger. It's a fairly abstract book. Having some knowledge of ancient Rome would probably help, luckily I studied it for two years and have an interest in the era, and many of the names were familiar (though I never studied Pliny). Pliny the Elder famously died after rushing towards the erupting Mount Vesuvius and becoming ash. His life's work, working on the Naturalis Historia (an attempt to catalogue the whole world) was passed onto his nephew. The book is called a 'comic delight': I don't see that, though I did find many parts fascinating and somewhat playful. The scene that sticks with me the most is Pliny the Elder taking a woman to his bedroom, a woman with no orifices. The man who sells her for the evening to him tells him not to attempt to create any holes in her by cutting her. So, Pliny rubs his genitals all over her hole-less body, feeling more aroused than he has ever felt. Something about the unattainable.