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Long weekends can afford to be different – delicious, fun, touching, intellectual, noisy, quiet. Psychologies columnist Elena Pestereva chose books with which you can…
tickle your nerves
“Who did not hide” Yana Wagner
Classic psychological detective story: nine guests and one owner are cut off from the world in a boarding house in the snowy mountains. They are 40 years old, they are friends from school. The next morning there were nine left. Which of these cute successful people is the killer? It makes sense to read if you like it when characters talk about their lives and secret family dramas. If you remember by heart the films “12 Angry Men” by Sidney Lumet and “Eight Women” by Francois Ozon.
AST, Edited by Elena Shubina, 544 p.
meet art
Eisenstein on paper. Graphic works of the master of cinema “Naum Kleiman
More than 500 drawings by the outstanding film director – from early childhood through the youthful period of “psychoanalytic absurdity” to late abstractions – are published for the first time. Together with film stills, director’s commentary and text by film critic Naum Kleiman, they provide a fresh look at Eisenstein’s fate and the evolution of his method. Traditionally, Eisenstein is referred to as a constructivist, which means the glorification of the urban era and the mechanization of life. Kleiman is the only one who points out the anxiety of the artist’s works, their intense conflict and inner tragedy. This is a serious study and, given the quality of the publication, it is an excellent gift.
Ad Marginem, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, 320 p.
Embrace and rejoice
“Grandma told me to bow and say that she asks for forgiveness” Fredrik Backman
This is the real Christmas story. Eight-year-old Elsa’s beloved grandmother, lively and eccentric, dies. The girl is left with the task of taking letters of apology from the deceased to her friends. Elsa will see her grandmother, mother, housemates and herself from unexpected sides, not necessarily good ones, and learn about war and friendship, betrayal and repentance, and we will get a sad, bright, magical, wise fairy tale for adults.
Translation from Swedish by Xenia Kovalenko.
Sinbad, 480 p.
Breathe freer
Tove Jansson: Work and Love by Tuula Karjalainen
The biography of the brilliant writer and artist is beautifully written and published – you can’t pass by. Tuula Karjalainen knew Tove Jansson closely and worked on her archives for several years. As a result, the book turned out to be lyrical and objective, exciting and intellectual. It is about the freedom to choose who to love and work with, and about the history of XNUMXth century art, of which Tove Jansson has become a part.
Translated from Finnish by Lyubov Shalygina. AST, 376 p.
Literature for children
To cuddle
“Happy New Year, little bear!” David Melling
From 3 years. Even during the holidays it is sometimes boring and incomprehensible: what to do with yourself? Introduce your child to Douglas – the bear cub has a lot of things to do on New Year’s Eve. He builds a snowman with his friends, rides down the mountains, rescues Rudy the reindeer and decorates the Christmas tree. And he always hugs everyone – with a snowman, and with trees, and even with a bag of gifts – but what’s wrong? From the New Year’s hugs, no one is prickly or cold, on the contrary, according to the assurances of the English writer and illustrator David Melling, the soul becomes even warmer.
Translation from English by Alina Popova. Polyandria, 32 p.
Dance
“Where’s the ballerina?” Anna Claiborne, Abigail Go
From 5 years. How does Cinderella feel, who was not taken to the ball? And the Nutcracker being defeated by the Mouse King? Represented? And how could you dance these feelings? With colorful illustrations by Abigail Goh, Anna Claiborne’s book will help children fall in love with the “silent” art of ballet. It combines stories from ten classical ballets with a find and show game. If you turn on your imagination and dance the scenes yourself, then looking for a ballerina on spreads will be even more interesting. Yes, and the ability to express emotions with movement is useful in life.
Translation from English by Tatyana Korshunova.
Children’s Book Workshop, 48 p.
Play
“Detective Pierre unravels the case. Labyrinth Tower Chase by Hiro Kamigaki
From 5 years. The detective game-find-and-seek will occupy the attention of the child for a long time. Huge pages, thick paper, many heroes, among which you need to find detective Pierre, help him go through the mazes, go up and down the stairs, find all the hidden objects and catch up with the famous thief Mr. darkness. Because Christmas is a festival of light, even children know this.
Translation from English by Yulia Gimatova.
Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 40 p.
Explore the world
“The Book of Cold, Ice and Snow” by Ekaterina Stepanenko
From 7 years. Winter alphabet and elementary truths about winter for little ones. On “A” – the Arctic, which (did you know?) Is not the mainland, but the zone around the North Pole, where the average temperature in July is +10 °C. On “K” – carols, and on “R” – Ragnarok. The alphabet, in which there is a little bit of everything: physics, biology, history, geography, legends, is made with love, and it is impossible not to fall in love with it in return.
Walking into history, 56 p.
Dream
The Nutcracker by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
From 8 years. Elka, Olivier and Hoffmann are the three pillars of winter celebrations. Gentle Marie, fearless Nutcracker and hordes of rats, candy meadow and gingerbread country. There, good triumphs over evil, because the godfather Drosselmeyer came up with everything neatly and, if anything, will fix any damage. Until your child is ready to accept the original text, start with a retelling, for example, by Leonid Yakhnin. And from the music of Tchaikovsky, of course.
Translation from German and retelling by Leonid Yakhnin.
Polyandria, 40 p.
grow up
“I keep your letters under my mattress” Astrid Lindgren, Sarah Schwardt
From 12 years. This is the correspondence between the girl Sarah and the storyteller Astrid Lindgren. Their age difference is 50 years. They talked for 30 years and never saw each other. Sarah is a difficult teenager. She writes about how her classmates humiliate her, how she steals, skips and hates domestic scandals. Astrid in letters is the ideal adult: understanding, honest, supportive. She replies: “And try not to pay attention to idiots with antediluvian ideas about psychiatry.” This story about how one soul, vulnerable and responsive to someone else’s pain, met another, is quite a Christmas one. It would be good for everyone to read it: teenagers – to feel heard, adults – to learn sensitivity.
Translation from Swedish by Ekaterina Chevkina.
White Crow, 198 p.