Mouth to ears – winter 2021/2022
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
I don’t have the codes! Understanding the world around us
Christel Petitcollin
This book offers overachievers a kind of instruction manual on the conventions that tacitly govern the functioning of society and human relationships. If you feel out of step with those around you, this book will provide you with valuable insights and keys to being better in and with the world.
If not, it will help you discover how human beings function that you find hard to understand, but also question the constitution of the collective narrative on which our sense of belonging is based. A book written not without humor, but above all with empathy, and which doesn’t require validation of the neurotypical/super-efficient distinction to be interesting.
Carole, Unithèque website
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
Praise for running
Cécile Coulon
Do you run? A little? A lot?
Then you’ll enjoy reading this short essay on running. After an introduction on the history of the discipline and its societal evolution, the author details everything that goes through the marathon runner’s body and mind as the miles are swallowed up. She explains how pain must be used as a tool to surpass oneself, without resorting to suffering. Enlightening. “[…] running is the muscular and psychological proof that walking is not enough.”
Christel, HEP Vaud site
Backstage
Pascal Parrone
The novel Backstage takes us into the musical landscape of Vaud, following the up-and-coming rock band Blackout.
At the start of the novel, the plot focuses mainly on the band’s career, but as you read on, the story takes a different turn. Gradually, we discover other, much deeper plots that explore the meanders of humanity, sometimes even to the point of the worst vices.
A musician himself, Pascal Parrone knows his subject inside out, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the world he loves so much. A native of Echallens, he takes us on a journey to the places in the region with which we are most familiar. We find ourselves immersed in the story, witnessing the scenes for ourselves. The characters’ foibles seem all the more real, and that’s what makes the story so chilling and captivating at the same time.
Emilie, Riponne site
Borrowing paper / digitalbooks
Music
Orchestral
Elise Caron & Las Malenas
Elise Caron performs her own works with great conviction. The lyrics and music are magnificent, oscillating between lightness and gravity, with an omnipresent dancing or theatrical side. Not surprising when you learn that Elise Caron studied drama. The Las Malenas sextet, more accustomed to tango, accompanies the singer with great finesse.
But by the way, is it French chanson or jazz? Why should we choose? we just love it, and we want more!
Suzanne, Riponne site
Piano sonata
Philip Glass
Philip Glass’s first piano sonata was premiered in Essen in July 2019 by Japan’s Maki Namekawa. In May of the same year, during a tour of Spain, the composer and pianist collaborated closely on the discovery and performance of the work. Both considered it a completely original composition. The music is tonal, with regular rhythms and a less marked repetitive aspect than in other works by Philip Glass. Easy to listen to, the music is immediately seductive, and Maki Namekawa, as a Philip Glass specialist, convinces with the subtlety of her playing.
Suzanne, Riponne site
