Thanks to books, thoughts and spoken words have survived centuries and centuries. That is why today we can travel through time, visit different places and read about a wide variety of experiences. And we too have a chance to beat time today, if only we write down our stories.
The books presented below prove that writers of all ages, despite the times in which they lived, had magnificent stories, which not everyone understands. The next 4 books only highly intelligent people they select as favorites.
Friedrich Hölderlin, Hyperion or the Hermit in Greece
Hölderlin is one of the greatest German poets. He was a great follower of Greek culture and thus wrote a book describing it the conflict between classical Greek values and an aggressive state.
The book presents Hyperion's attempts to overthrow Turkish rule in Greece, his disillusionment with the rebellion, his survival in the deadly battle of Chesma, his despair when Diotima dies of a broken heart before they can be reunited, and his later life when he becomes a hermit in the Greek wilderness, where he accepts the beauty of nature and overcomes tragedy in solitude.
Ismail Kadaré, Broken April
Ismail Kadaré is considered to be one of the most prominent writers of his time. The book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes, namely how the past affects the present.
The story is told by Gjorg Berisha, a 26-year-old Albanian who lives on a high plateau. According to the laws of the Kanun, he is forced to kill in order to avenge his brother's death. The result of this is his own death - by law he must now be killed by a member of another family.
Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Restlessness
Fernando Pessoa is considered to be one of the most important authors of the 20th century. The work The Book of Discontent was published posthumously. It is a fragmentary life project that the author never edited, but named "reckless autobiography". The book was attributed to Bernard Soares, one of the author's half-heteronyms.
The basis of the novel is the word saudade, which refers to the feeling of melancholy that comes from being away from someone who will never return. Thus, Pessoa constantly explores the meaning of this word and the meaning of the word "love".
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf is considered to be one of the most important representatives of European modernism. Mrs Dalloway is one of her most famous novels and one of the key modern novels. Speaks of the individual search for the meaning of life and self-image, questions about relationships and violence in today's world.
Clarissa Dalloways takes to the streets of London after her morning errands and prepares to host a party in the evening. A fine day reminds her of her youth spent in the countryside of Bourton; she wonders if she chose the right husband (instead of marrying the mysterious Peter Walsh, she chose the reliable Richard Dalloway as her husband) and that she never had the chance to be with Sally Seton, with whom she shared a kiss. When Peter visits her that morning, the conflicts from her youth come back to haunt her. Along with Clarissa, we also follow the story of Septimus Warren Smith, a World War I veteran who is obsessed with the death of his friend Evans. Later that day, when he is ordered to be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, he commits suicide. Clarissa's party is a success, attended by most of the characters we meet in the book, including characters from the past. When he hears about Septimus' suicide at the party, he gradually comes to admire this act, believing that he was trying to preserve the purity of his happiness.
