"Mami, come look! 3 more ships have entered the port!" • Lily Milat occupies a shelf

CPA. Many people, especially business owners, will cringe a little when they remember this position holder. Accountant means procedures, forms, income tax, value added tax, receipts and other kinds of vegetables, who wants to eat them when there is mom's cheesecake on the table?

For me, when I know it's time for the annual meeting with my accountant, I mostly… smile. As fate would have it, and a good friend who recommended him, he loves the craft of reading even more than I do! So from a two-minute meeting for signatures and light procedures, we will use the hour we have to exchange impressions from recent reading experiences and I have a note on my mobile with books that say "No, you have to".

ibis/ Stefan Zweig

So, on that day, right after we parted ways for another year of a little bookkeeping and a lot of reading, I visited the nearest bookstore in Haifa and bought the book of Stefan Zweig - Magellan. Who would have thought that the biography of the discoverer of the world would be so fascinating? Magellan connected to me with sailing adventures that I often went on in those days and therefore, precisely when I saw how interesting it was and Zweig's writing was so absorbing, I put the book aside. I stopped at page 76.

The reason? I wanted to keep it for a long voyage, that the story would accompany me with the waves of the sea. Since then more than a year has passed and now the sea and its adventures are moving away from us in the days of the Houthis and the other kinds of shame that have landed on us, but I have hope in my heart that there is still a white sail on the horizon and I will sail on it with Magellan when the time comes.

Until then, I will leave you with a quote from a Latin article that was old back in the days of Zweig and is written on page 21: "Sailing is necessary, life is not". 

Regarding my private library and deciding whether Stay or free? - Magellan definitely remaining.
Book details: Magellan by Stefan Zweig, Moden Publishing, 2021. (Zweig wrote it in 1938).
A selected quote, which fits the spirit of these days in Israel: "The success of one brave person always generates enthusiasm and courage among an entire generation."

My first cruise out of the port of Haifa

If we are talking about cruises, I will tell you about my first cruise outside Haifa port. The days are the days of our rented apartment in Ypa Nof, the one overlooking the Haifa port, which I told you about last week. The living room was organized with a carpet and pillows that we bought and carried all the way from Sinai. And me, with my morning coffee I would slump on the low sitting position and... count. I don't count as a profession, I count 1...2...3, I count ships. Sometimes the man would wake up to voices of joy and exultation: "Mmm, come look! 3 more ships have entered the port!" 

After months in which the man, who comes from the place called Kinneret Yam, absorbed my enthusiastic awakenings, my birthday arrived. On May 2, 2000, he entrusted me with an envelope containing tickets for a voyage from the port of Haifa to Cyprus. Now, those who have sailed on one of the commercial ships that go out to tour the neighboring islands already know that if you don't gamble then you will be disappointed. At least it was like that then, I'm not up to date about the current years.

Every evening the ship would leave the territorial waters and operate the Alec-Royal casino which was bustling with life. The man and I contributed some coins to the machines and ran out. At the cabaret performance we were among the few who came to watch and at the end of the cruise we quite enjoyed private performances while the other passengers turned around the roulette tables.

When I finished reading the following story, I thought I would like to be in the casino again, to practice what Mrs. S told about it. But before that, a short introduction.

24 hours in a woman's life/ Stefan Zweig

Last week I wrote about the short story genre, I continue to go up the word ladder, that is: in the length of the book and reach the novella genre. Longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel, it provides for me afternoons of sunset and immersion in something like a movie. I can start and finish in a few hours and there is something delightful about such reading, of course assuming that the novella is successful and engrossing.

So it's true that I still haven't finished reading Magellan waiting for the day he sails again, but let us know Stefan Zweig He wrote a novella, the name of which was called to me from Shmuel's book stand in the center of Carmel - 24 hours in a woman's life - and I took her with me to my home in the kibbutz. 

The year is 1927, Zweig's novella will soon celebrate 100 years. How is she still interesting, how did he do it? As a writer, I long for such writing, which will remain for generations. What makes 24 hours in a woman's life a story that I think is worth reading even today?

To write, and even at that time, about a man who fiercely defends a woman he doesn't know at all, just by the fact that he is clear about her right, is already a good reason. But you will have to read for yourself and enjoy the writing, the descriptions of the French Riviera that are not exhaustive, but paint it in a way that makes you want to visit. And the story of Mrs. S, the one who made me want to be at the roulette table again, just to watch the hands, the coins and the action happening on the table. 

Stay or free? - the most remaining That.
Book details: 24 hours in the life of a woman by Stefan Zweig, Nine Souls Publishing, 2019. (As mentioned, written by Zweig in 1927).

Selected quotes I liked:
"For my part... I believe that a woman who follows her passion out of freedom and passion shows greater sincerity than a woman who, as is customary, cheats on her husband while she is in his arms and closes her eyes." (p. 17).
"As a private person, I don't understand why I should volunteer to take the role of prosecutor: I prefer to be a defense attorney. It brings me more happiness to understand people instead of judging them." (p. 19).

And in the spirit of the times, something that particularly touched me: "The pain is heartbreaking, it withdraws from the overwhelming demand to live, which seems to be rooted in our flesh stronger than any death wish in our spirit." (p. 91).

Take off in the years to 1958, meanwhile if you have noticed, I am voluntarily stuck in a period in which I have not yet fulfilled myself as a human being. Sometimes we don't have an explanation for why and why we are attracted to something, why exactly is that thing interesting? Thus, my love for black-and-white and primarily multi-color movies is something I don't explain, I just love watching them, especially with my dad, may he live well and in good health.

Breakfast at Tiffany's/ Audrey Hepburn

If the writers of the filmographies knew Abba, the phone would be ringing non-stop - because every question regarding the actors, the script and behind-the-scenes stories, would be answered willingly and told with his great love for cinema. 

But most of all, I loved her, the undisputed queen of grace, nobility, giving and of course... fashion - Audrey Hepburn. I can write endlessly about her, she even appears as a nickname for the heroine of the books 'Bat Number Four', but here I will focus on the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, based on a novella by Truman Capote. 

Many times there is disappointment when watching a movie based on a book we loved. What to do if you can't include in the script all the behind the scenes that only a book can give. Sometimes we will be disappointed with the casting, because we imagined the heroes differently. However, I only read Breakfast at Tiffany's in the last month, after years of watching Audrey the Queen countless times.

Yes, yes, George Peppard was also great and even the cat, but I wonder if my opinion would have been different if the casting that Capote went for when he preferred Marilyn Monroe Instead of Audrey? I don't know, I don't think anyone today can imagine Holly Golightly (the main character) different from the iconic Audrey Hepburn. I also don't know if I was disappointed with the script after reading the novella, I can only testify to the pleasure I had in reading the novella after the film was assimilated into me.

I read and imagined all the actors and it gave me great pleasure. I connected less in the film with those who chose to play the owner of the house, Mr. Yunyoshi, and in doing so, in my opinion, sinned against the character of the stranger in New York because apparently in those days white actors were cast to play someone who was not them.

One way or another, I recommend both the film and the reading of the novella - as a reader, I understand the end of Capote's written story, but in my heart and on the ground, I prefer the ending in the filmed film. 

Stay or free? Have we moved on to rhetorical questions? It is clear thatremaining I have to grab a shelf.
Book details: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, Keter Books, 2009. (As mentioned, written by Capote in 1958). In this box, besides the novella, there are three other short stories by Capote, for your enjoyment.

Pleasant reading and may good words be by your side always,
Lily