Around the World in 80 Books discussion
ATW in 80 Books World Challenge
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Alice - Rogue
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Chile, US, China - Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende - At the beginning of this book I thought, Oh no - another story about a "great, all-consuming love" ugh. Not my thing. But, I'm glad I stuck with it; it ended up being much more complex - about identity: gender, race, class, nationality, and also the difference between an immature all-consuming passion vs. real, lasting mature love. Much better than I had expected!51 books
Lesotho, South Africa - Singing Away the Hunger: The Autobiography of an African Woman by Mpho M'Atsepo Nthunya 52 books
Canada, Greenland - White Heat by MJ McGrath - This author does a great job of making you feel like you've been there - and that's saying something for the far north Canada just off Greenland. The mystery part is fine (aside from killing one of my favorite characters!), but it's really the setting this sets this novel apart.53 books
Russia - The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander - An interesting take on the fate of the Romanov's, with a twist at the end that was not too obvious, but also not too out of left field. What happened to the missing kids is not a new idea - but this one did a good job of humanizing (is that a word?) the family better than most.54 books
South Africa, Comoros - A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth by Samantha Weinberg55 books
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Nepal - Backpacks and Bra Straps by Savannah Grace - This is a fun memoir continuing the story of one family's incredible journey around the world. Besides the travel adventures, this book is also about family dynamics - and how being constantly together can create tension, even in a tight knit group. All of the family members begin to crack at the complete lack of privacy; but in the end they all come together over shared hardship.56 books
Ukraine - Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov - A low-key indictment of post-Soviet society; gangsters, murder, dirty money - but all the gorey stuff happens off stage.59 books
Congo (both Republic and DRC) - Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo by Vanessa Woods61 books
India - The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - This is a beautiful novel that examines the all-too-common emotions of vengeance, envy, and hate. Yet, somehow even when the characters do things that are heinous, there's empathy in the writing. Since I'm not familiar with the Mahabarata, I can't say how closely the story follows, but I'm motivated to pick up my copy and finally read it through!63 books
Zimbabwe, Burundi & Rwanda - Crazy River: A Journey to the Source of the Nile by Richard Grant64 books
Australia - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - Oh my goodness, this book is funny! The main character is very endearing - although he himself (and everyone around him) admits that he's quite "unconventional". I have no idea whether or not it is a good depiction of the thoughts of someone on the autism spectrum, but since it's a "spectrum", there's a lot of variation - so it could be quite realistic. At it's heart it's a light, fluffy romantic comedy - but in this case, that's a good thing.65 books
China - China in Ten Words by Yu Hua - A very well done examination of what has shaped China over the last few decades. Sometimes it seemed like the author was being more autobiographical (writing & Lu Xun chapters), but mostly he does a good job of showing how the Cultural Revolution is still felt in China today, and how today's crazy economic growth is another manifestation of the same creativity and lawlessness that drove other major events in China's recent past.66 books
Northern Canada (near Greenland) - The Bone Seeker by M.J. McGrath - Great series - this one set during the summer, and the midnight sun and fragile arctic vegetation play a role.68 books
Russia - Journey into the Whirlwind by Evgenia Semyonovna Ginzburg - Wow. I've got to remind myself to only read a maximum of one horrible prison-camp memoir per month. The story would be unbelievable if I didn't already know Russian history. But, the author really personalizes the purges, prisons, and work camps. A good book - a terrible story.69 books
Singapore (with small bits in France, US, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Macau) - Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - This book was touted as a satire - but I couldn't help but think the author was actually more of a voyeur than a satirist. Only the villains had anything bad to say about the lifestyle (bitchiness about food, clothes, flower arrangements etc.) - all the sympathetic characters were beautiful, stylish, and only loved their partners for their beauty. The two main characters were supposed to be university professors - but didn't have a brain between them. The only thing I liked about the book was the Mandarin/Cantonese/Hokkien words sprinkled throughout and the descriptions of Singaporese food. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you fail to bring enough books on vacation and end up grabbing the first thing you see. 70 books
Around the World in 80 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Crazy Rich Asians (other topics)Journey into the Whirlwind (other topics)
The Bone Seeker (other topics)
Night (other topics)
China in Ten Words (other topics)
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But, don't let me leave you with the impression that's it's a heavy, plodding examination of the finer points of religious life - it's actually quite light reading - with funny travel misadventures getting equal time with interesting religious/philosophical musings. Which gets to my two complaints with the narrative - the author hates India (I just can't relate to this - yes, it's dirty, crazy, crowded, etc - that's why it's great!!!), and there are several times where the author talks about seeing a group of "Asians" in India - I assume he meant east asians??? He didn't seem to realize Indians are Asians????
Finally, the author manages to capture his generation's dissatisfaction with the religions of their childhoods, while making the case that one need not jump to an entirely different religion (as many California baby-boomers are looking to Buddhism), one can find all the ingredients within your native religion (in his case, Christianity). I think this is his main reason for writing the book. The key quote being, "what those who have fled Christianity for Eastern faiths have found - mysticism, meditation, and transformative teachings - were all present in the tradition of their birth. It's tragic that these people did not have skillful teachers to present it to them in a way that was attractive rather than repellant." He respects other religions, but believes very strongly that people born into Christian families/societies should remain Christians.
(p.s. I won this from Goodreads Giveaways)
50 books