Felix Summer Reads

Felix Summer Reads Cristina Carillo, Editor-in-Chief The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Rating: 3.5 /5 ⭐  This summer, I stumbled upon what is considered the first modern spy novel, published in 1903. As someone who boats and sailing have never appealed, the detailed-heavy plot often felt empty, slow, and lower-stakes than what I am accustomed to read. However, the author’s foreshadowing of England-Germany battles before World War I is admirable. So too is his ability to liken the revealing of character traits to the solutions of cryptic puzzles, making clear just how influential this book was to the genre of spy fiction.  Apollo Yang, Books Writer Beijing Trilogy by Feng Tang Rating: 4/5 ⭐  What does it take for a boy to become a man? For Feng Tang’s Beijing Trilogy, it takes an unforgettable love and its equally unforgettable collapse; a dimly lit four-square-metre dorm room where unspoken feelings linger; a dissection room reeking of formalin, oncology jargon, and a gynaecologist who feels the gap between a booming society and a limited self. It takes the scent of money and youth, and a Beijinger living through the city’s 1990s transformation. From China’s most prestigious medical school to global partner at McKinsey, the narrator asks whose dreams and ambitions he is chasing. Family, friends, lovers, and half-sorted memories return through a nostalgic, tender lens. Feng Tang’s trilogy is a vivid record of a not-so-distant past, opening a window onto that alluring, uncertain era before my own – and evoking the growing pains from adolescence to young adulthood that many of us still share.  Dariga Atayeva, Books Editor & Felix Treasurer Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐  They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but the cover is the first impression we get and, depending on how you operate, those can be hard to erase. Given the title, I was surprised to find a close-up of Johannes Vermeer’s painting Girl with a Pearl Earring rather than the famous Mona Lisa. The contradiction spiked my interest and worked wonders as a marketing strategy. The content itself is about Mona, a 10-year-old girl affected by occasional cecity and with only one year left of vision. Her grandfather, an art historian it seems, decides to use this valuable time to show her a maximum of beauty of life through art, and brings Mona to several major Paris art museums. Through her grandfather’s visual and historical descriptions, we learn art history facts alongside Mona, making this a semi history fiction novel. Rather slow paced, educational and moving, this is a satisfying read if you have a curious mind interested in the world of art but find it challenging to decipher their deeper significations  just by looking at them. However, this also means that the language often takes on a didactic and descriptive style, and can read as more non-fiction, requiring more patience if you prefer narrative storylines.  Aashvi Rajani, Books Writer Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy Rating: 5/5 ⭐  In this memoir, Arundhati Roy lures us into her tumultuous life with the promise of an eloquent prose. Not only do you learn about her relationship with her gangster mother, you live it with her. Her fear, rage, humiliation, rebellion – they are all so poignantly described that they force you to unveil your own childhood traumas. Rather than painting her mother, Mrs. Roy, as an obvious barbarian, she dissects her person with a gentleness and complexity that induces a newfound respect for the writer. At one point you’re wincing at the picture of a young Arundhati being deserted on a highway, and at another you are in awe of all the events that led to the genesis of this literary masterpiece.