If we can't be masters of our body, of this set of organs, tissues and cells that is our territory, what are we left with? Well, I think by now you all know the story of The Handmaid's Tale, so I won't say what it's about (so as not to make so many spoilers). As for the storytelling, Atwood has a very quirky style and it can be complex, but mind you, she writes beautifully, this woman. The story is overwhelming. Unfortunately, the number of fertile women is declining by leaps and bounds, and, what this book narrates, is not far from reality. At any moment this situation will happen to us. In fact, in some countries it is like that, women only serve as cattle. The characters are great. From the good ones to the bad ones, all very well profiled and with a lot of character. The maid's tale is the struggle of a woman to be and to be, to speak, to write, to dance, to sing, to look, to run, to laugh, to dream, to eat, to do and undo, ultimately for everything that involves living, deciding and existing. I would define it as the most realistic dystopia I have read so far. Offred is the protagonist and through her we know everything she lives, her condition of fertile woman positions her as a womb that serves the state and nothing more. I quite liked the pace of the book, as we experience everything through Offred's thoughts. The author drew from various forms of totalitarian states that happened in the world to narrate this novel. It has impacted me so much that I have been terrified and thinking a lot about this book, highly recommended.

"It was a wonderful night, such a night as is only possible when we are young, dear reader." This story came to me thanks to a recommendation I saw on TikTok. Here's the thing: I had never read a Russian author before, starting with a short story was perfect to get into these blocks of text full of content (in case you didn't know, Russian literature has the reputation of being “heavy” or very complex). I can assure you that I didn't find any of that in White Nights, but I plunged freely (and headfirst) into the dreamer's monologues ^^ and I totally join his way of seeing the world and understanding it: of being there but not. That's how Dostoevsky became one of my favorite writers. The story has two main characters: the dreamer (an unnamed character) and Nastenka. Both young person, alone in a cold world, meet and “understand” each other immediately. But as always there is a problem, the dreamer cannot control his dreams and Nastenka, is she really a dreamer? You don't have to be a genius to guess that there are no happy endings in Russia, but sometimes we don't need them to enjoy reading, and that Fyodor is very good at. The aesthetics of this story lies in that, and in the portrayal of youth. What is youth if not just a dream? What are you waiting for? Go cultivate your souls with this little story, it's beautiful. "May your sky be clear, may your sweet smile be bright and serene, may you be blessed for that moment of bliss that you gave to another lonely, grateful heart! My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?"