Mouth to ear – winter 2022/2023
When a document challenges, amuses, transports or transforms, our librarians like to share it with you. This sharing is done through “word-of-mouth” bookmarks placed in the documents available on our different sites.
We’ve selected a few below to whet your appetite.
Books
The lion’s snack
Ito Ogawa
Suffering from terminal cancer, Shizuko decides to go to the Lion House on Lemon Island. In the West, this would be called a palliative care clinic, but in this novel it’s nothing of the sort. The welcome at the Maison du Lion is warm, beauty is everywhere (not only in nature, but also in the souls of those who care for her), and care is lavished with love. Every word rings true: at La Maison du Lion, you’re a guest (and therefore a visitor), your senses are (re)awakened (smell, taste, sight, touch). It’s like being reborn and taking leave of life.
Poetic and modest, this book is comforting and gives off an atmosphere of peace: everyone would love to be welcomed into the Maison du Lion on Lemon Island to end their days.
Suzanne, Riponne site
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
America[s]
Ludovic Manchette, Christian Niemiec
A real favorite!
After devouring Alabama 1963 by the same authors, I was looking forward to America[s] with some trepidation. Although the two novels are very different in terms of their themes, I thoroughly enjoyed them both, and both take me on a journey through the America of the 1960s-1970s.
The (very) young America takes the reader along in her leather satchel on a hitchhiking trip from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. One of the strengths of the story lies in the bevy of characters who line the young girl’s path along this journey of initiation. It’s impossible to put the book down until you’ve climbed into the next car to meet a new character, right up to the last page.
Amélie, Riponne site
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
Hermès baby
Louise Bergh
From Vienna to Paris, 100 years, the destiny of 4 women, from great-grandmother to great-granddaughter, linked to a disappointed love whose repercussions cross generations of unspoken words and silences.
Made up of short chapters that set the pace extremely well, this novel plunges us into very different moods, from one era to the next, from one life to the next, from one page to the next, but with a hyphen drawn in the charcoal of Egon Schiele…
Christophe, Riponne site
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
Digital devouring
François Forestier, François Ansermet
Is digital technology the savior of humanity? Or a veritable scourge that condemns us to live in a dystopian universe reminiscent of a George Orwell novel?
Digital Devouring is a book that describes the digital opulence that surrounds us. The blatant evolution of these tools has fundamentally disrupted our daily lives, sometimes to the point of losing control.
Can we still talk about free will when our choices are predetermined by algorithms? What influence will the GAFAs (Google/Apple/Facebook/Amazon/Microsoft) have in the fields of health, education, politics and science in our societies? Will we live in a “trans-humanist” golden age where disease, crime and poverty are a thing of the past? This book gives us a glimpse of the trends that are taking shape, for better or for worse.
Stephan, Riponne site
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
In spite of everything
Jordi Lafebre
This is the story of two young lovers, Ana and Zeno. Love at first sight is mutual, but their plans are not compatible…
The years go by and so do the plans, but the hope of seeing each other again is always there. They write to each other and phone each other year after year, with no hope of ever meeting again… But do we really know what the future holds?
This is a highly original comic strip, in which we follow the path of these lovers in reverse. We discover as we go along how they met, from the most recent to memories of the past.
The illustrations are magnificent, filled with colors such as ochres, blues, greens and yellows. A real pleasure for the eyes and also for the soul! A moving tale that makes us believe in love without fearing the passage of time!
Luna, Riponne site
Fox tears
Matteo Salvadore
Maude Colomb, senior inspector with Vevey’s new crime squad, is called to Jongny. A fox corpse has been found nailed to the door of a house, and a little further on, in the garden, a charred body. As the investigation struggles to make headway and other crimes are committed, speculation is rife in the newspapers. As the brigade’s discoveries are made, a past case resurfaces…
Matteo Salvadore’s plot moves back and forth between past and present, touching on subjects such as folklore and the women’s strike. The pace is well-balanced, the characters are engaging and the village atmosphere is captivating. Special mention goes to Maude Colomb, a nugget!
Mathias, Riponne site
