World Book Day: suggestions for celebrating the date at home.
The pandemic caused by Covid-19 led a large part of the Portuguese population to be in social isolation, at home and with more time to devote to the family and activities they enjoy most, how to read.
To mark World Book Day, that is celebrated tomorrow, 23 April, João Garcia Miguel, author and director, suggests six books for this quarantine period:
1. * “Neuromancerâ€, by William Gibson - * Work by one of the most renowned Science Fiction writers of the 20th century, belongs to the cyberpunk literary subgenre. Released 1984, addresses themes that only later came to be known, like cyberspace, artificial intelligence or biotechnology.
2. *“Levantado do Chãoâ€, by José Saramago - * It is considered one of the best novels by the author, having been awarded numerous times, with awards such as the Lisbon City Award, in 1980. Portrays Portugal - and more specifically the Alentejo -, from the end of the 19th century to the 25 April, addressing the struggle of the Portuguese people in the face of oppressive forces.
3. *"Confessions of a Mask", by Yukio Mishima - * With an autobiographical dimension, represented by the Japanese culture of the author himself, tells the life story of a man who lives in a constant balance between desire and duty and what is expected of him.
4. *"The Scourges of the East Wind", de Manuel Lopes - * By a Cape Verdean writer, the book refers to your land, the island of Santo Antão, describing his people's struggle for survival in the face of the force of nature, overcoming severe periods of drought.
5. * "Travel in My Land", de Almeida Garrett - * One of the classics of Portuguese romanticism, is a work that focuses on the author's journey between Lisbon and Santarém, describing the different places where he passed and making known multiple characters and their experiences.
6. *"My Last Sigh", de Luis Buñuel - * Autobiographical book by the Spanish filmmaker, who reports his life and experiences with artists like Salvador Dalà and Federico GarcÃa Lorca. The work addresses the transition from the surrealist movement to cinema, of which the author was also part.
World Book Day was celebrated for the first time in 1995, after being established by the United Nations Education Organization, Science and Culture (UNESCO). It emerged with the aim of fostering interest and democratizing access to literature, honoring the works of all who
contribute to it. *Pictures * here <https://we.tl/t-IzOdebdHJb>.
