Missing Piece||Lithuanian Books

It is wonderful how certain book can affect mood, mind or even personality. And how much effort one needs to put when choosing what to read. Most of the time book reflects how person is feeling at certain time, what is going through person's mind. 

When I started this blog I chose to read more books in English because I thought that this will help me to get more people checking my blog. For couple of months I was really happy with my blog and that I am able to read in foreign language. However, my collection of English books is very small, mostly crime novels and that is deffinitely not my favorite genre. So, naturally, I got bored, I stopped reading and writing posts. Then later, I started to feel empty without spending my evenings with book in my hands. I thought, there is no better way to bring back my love for reading, than to start one of Stephen King's books. After all, he is one of my favorite authors. For some time that was enough, but spring came, nature woke up, everything started to grow, change colour. My passion for nature, kind acts, positive thoughts woke up as well, and I felt like King with his horrid writing style was not what I needed. 

I started to spend more time outside walking through fields and forest, I and my bestie discussed about what we are looking in books, what we want to get from reading. That is when I realised that the thing I am missing is Lithuanian authors and native language. Day after day my love to my homeland is growing, every morning I wake up appreciating history of my country, and language even more. 

For a long time Lithuanians fought for our homeland, traditions, language, and that is why the biggest part of Lithuanian books written in 20th century are about how occupation of Lithuania, capture, exile affected every aspect of people's life. Even though these books cover horrible topics they are still full of positive thoughts and encouragements. So now for some time I definitely will be reading only Lithuanian books, because these books are closer to my heart, I believe that they will help my soul to grow and to bloom together with meadow flowers in my favorite fields.

At the moment I have three books I want to talk about. I know that probably only minority of my readers are from Lithuania and others do not care about these books but that does not matter because I want to write about what is important to me.

VILNIAUS POKERIS by Ričardas Gavelis

This novel is actually translated into English and if you are interested you can buy it here.

An assemblage of troubled people struggle to retain identity and humanity in an alternately menacing and mysterious Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, under Soviet rule in the 1970s and 1980s. Story focuses on people's feelings and minds. This period absolutely messed up everybody's life, people had to give up on who they truly are, betray themselves and close people. However, it shows an importance of having beliefs and common sense even thought that is everything you are left with. 

TŪLA by Jurgis Kunčinas

This novel is translated as well, buy it here.

Firstly, this story is about love. But it is deffinitely not about that sweet love, main characters face with a lot of difficulties, they are not your regular people, they are weird bohemians who do not fit in any frame but that is what makes this story so interesting. Secondly, book is about Vilnius, capital city of Lithuania. Author definitelly romanticizes this city, descriptions of small streets, places where only artists meet, river which drifts secret desires and thoughts, create dreamy atmosphere.

  

MES GYVENOME by Marcelijus Martinaitis

This book is autobiographical and author mainly writes about his childhood and teenage years, how he was trying to find out who he truly is. Poet presents people, tradicions, events, experience. What he emphasises is that everyone faces with difficulties, lack, miseries but at the end life is full of light.