Mia Couto’s The Cartographer of Absences and Nelio Biedermann’s Lázár have rarely been discussed together before. I have just published another blog post, highlighting the parallels and why both, neither one being an easy read, are worth reading.
Absences: Mia Couto and Nelio Biedermann
… of Absences
The article is now also available in German:
Nelio Biedermann und Mia Couto: Vergessen
Note that I read Lázár in German, and The Cartographer of Absences in English, and my mixed language notes didn’t make it easier to blog about them.
Struggling for the Right Words
I hope that this is the last article where I struggle for the right words, feel that I fail, and still decide to publish. I’m also still unsure whether my text makes a good read, but I’m sure some potential readers liked one of the books but haven’t heard about the other one yet.
Again and again, I promised myself to focus on easier topics and spend less time blogging (also known as productive procrastination) while still providing value, inspiration and entertainment to my readers.
I remembered, re-read, and started to blog about a potential summer reading recommendation that I still felt a little too dark and disturbing to deserve a dedicated article in my Open Mind Culture blog. Consequentially, I discarded the article.
Unland and a Country that still exists somehow
Instead, I mentioned it in an updated paragraph in my 2022 books and film reviews alongside The Loss and A Country that doesn’t exist anymore. All that might matter a lot in 2026, especially if you live in a rural village in East Germany.
Unland, an all-ages book, recently republished in 2023, tells the story of a foster family relocated from Berlin to a small village in the middle of nowhere, that has a dark secret to hide. At first glance perhaps a clichéd young adult book, on second glance a multi-layered social critique, and an invitation to view the person in the mirror with different eyes.
Inspired by the new book cover and by the places where I started to think of the story again, here is an image of a Brandenburg lake in the twilight.
But see for yourselves! Read the book, visit the villages, talk to the people or at least, listen to them!
Upcoming Topics on the Open Mind Culture Blog
Planned upcoming topics on Open-Mind-Culture.org include further reading recommendations, urban art and other picuture posts, critical essays and practical tips about culture and content creation.
About this Substack Newsletter
My Substack newsletter will mostly announce my own posts now.
I will probably publish something about once a month or less frequently, but not more often than twice a month. So, I won’t spam your mailbox, anyway.
Stay tuned if that sounds interesting to you!
Until next time,
Ingo