Magical Realism - November 2015

[Liz, Moderator]

So it's Magical Realism for November. Post your suggestions and progress here...

I will probably read Doruntine (also called 'the Ghost Rider') by Ismail Kadare as it will give me Albania for the round the world challenge. I also have The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw waiting on my Kindle...

A book from a couple of years back that I really enjoyed, and would highly recommend: Snake Ropes by Jess Richards.

[Liz, Moderator]

Others I've enjoyed...
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Like Water for Chocolate, Midnight's Children, The Magic Toyshop, Life After Life...

[Em]

I absolutely LOVED The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and the similarly named Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter and I'm a fan of David Mitchell too... Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten were both really good.

I think I may attempt iq84 by Haruki Murakami although it's a long one...

[Mercia]

I recently bought Ghostwritten on special offer and have Cloud Atlas sitting unread, so I could do either of those to give me a break from my predominately realist and historical Round the World reading list. In fact I've bought four David Mitchell books and have not read any of them as I've been too busy on US and World tours.

[Liz, Moderator]

(I loved The Night Circus and Cloud Atlas too).

Talking of long ones, what about the amazing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. One of my favourites! (Or is that complete fantasy?)

[Danielle]

It's a long time since I read something by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - so it's possible I pick up something of Garcia Marquez I haven't read yet.

[Bill]

I'm thinking of reading Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.

[Ian, Moderator]

If you fancy an exotic?/difficult country for the ATW challenge you could try by Tiphanie Yanique which would get you the US Virgin Isles - set on the island of St.Thomas.

[Liz, Moderator]

Just started The Girl With Glass Feet...

[Louise]

Liz wrote: "Just started The Girl With Glass Feet...

"

I loved this, the only kindle book I've ever felt the need to order in physical form.

[Aneta]

I'm starting The Night Circus - it's time to find out what the hype is all about:-) I'm also thinking about Kafka on the Shore and / or Midnight's Children as both have been on my list for a long time. One of my favourites in this genre are The House of the Spirits and Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith. Oh, and the classics, which I read years ago: One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Master and Margarita :-)

[Helen]

Loved Night Circus. I've read Lagoon which I'm not recommending. It's set in Africa, has aliens and magic happens!

[Em]

The Master and Margarita was good in an unusual sort of a way - I felt like I was quite immersed by the story although I'm not sure that I always knew exactly what was going on!

Well, wish me luck. I'm about to start iq84 by Haruki Murakami - it's a brick and I dare say, I'll still be reading it at Christmas!!

[Ian]

Hi. So many other books on the go that I cant start another but a couple of comments on books mentioned above. I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, although our reading group largely hated it. Its opening is wonderful and, if you let yourself be absorbed in the narrative it is a book of incredible rhythm, imagination and depth. Kafka on the Shore was my introduction to Murakami and I was hooked. Ive read most of his work now and admire his unique style. The criticism is levelled at him that his theme is a bit repetitive, and that has some merit but Ive enjoyed all his books. 1Q84 included.

The Master and Margaritais possibly my favourite book this year but I also read the Gormengast trilogy. Another fantastical world, and one that is so grotesque that it delights. Beautifully written, some sentences soar in their eloquence - but be ready for a long read.

Perhaps more satirical than magical realism, how about Andrey Kurkovs Death and the Penguin. A wonderful book that is at times comedic but with a very sharp focus on Ukrainian society.

I could go on but will stop there. Happy reading everyone.

[Jen]

Difficult to choose this month =) I really enjoy Magical Realism. I recently purchased Midnight's Children so I think I'll start with that and see where things go.

[Kate, Moderator]

I always seem to struggle with this genre. It never seems very clear from a books synopsis that it will fall into magical realism!
Anyway, my brother has let me borrow a book from him. So I'm taking the plunge with Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. It appears to be set in Chile so I'm hoping to scoop another Country at the same time.
Has anyone read it?

[Andrew]

In the end I had a crossover which covered YA and magical, it was ok but not really my cup of tea, and which was interesting with the first two thirds being satisgfyingly gothic and bizarre but my losing the way a bit as it ended up in the slightly magical realms of Siberia, perhaps I needed some reading notes to get the symbolism.

[Em]

I've read Eva Luna and quite a few Isabel Allende books - it was a while back so can't recall specifics but I generally enjoy her writing in general. Hope you do to!

[Laura]

Finally can get started on this months book after finishing Don Quixote. I've picked One Hundred Years of Solitude which I know isnt a very inventive choice but I've wanted to read it for a while.

[Ian, Moderator]

This is a stretch but the book I'm currently reading starts with a baby disappearing and then reappearing safe and sound a few months later at the top of an inaccessible tree on New Years Day 1900. It's South American so I'm counting it. Other than that one scene it's HF and mother/daughter relationships. It's also very good and the only translated novel I've ever managed to find set in Uruguay if you are travelling the world. by Carolina De Robertis.

[Liz, Moderator]

Finished my two. The Girl With Glass Feet has a great premise and the descriptive writing is very good, but I have to say it felt a little self-consciously written to me (I kept seeing the author's imprint and as a result, never quite lost myself in the book). Also a couple of the male characters seemed too similar and I kept getting them mixed up. 3.5 stars.

The Ghost Rider, based on an Albanian folk tale, sounded interesting, but it also kept me at arms length. It was OK, but the writing felt quite detached and I was never truly gripped. Just made 3 stars.

[[deleted user]]

Starting to panic now as I still haven't decided on a book for this month! Am thinking I might cheat slightly and go for a re-read of The Snow Child which I think has elements of magical-realism - it's been a couple of years since I read it and I've been meaning to re-read at some point.

[Jen]

Having lots of fun with this month so far (: whilst I've decided to leave Midnight's Children for another month, I've picked up Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente which is fantastic and The Immortals by S.E. Lister.

For those still deciding what they'd like to read one of my favorite youtubers recently did a video on her favorite magical realism books, which is well worth a watch for some inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqY03...

And for those on twitter there's a Magical Realism twitter account, which is fun and rather lovely: https://twitter.com/MagicRealismBot

[Laura]

I've given it a fair chance but i'm just really not getting into One Hundred Years of Solitude so i don't think i'll finish it. That is very unlike me, normally i'll push on till the end but i've started to realise just how much time i'm wasting on things i know i won't enjoy.


So instead for this month i've read Slaughterhouse-Five which was incredibly good and one of the best war books i've ever read.

[Bill]

My magical realism choice was a failure. I tried to read Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin and struggled to read 200 pages. I couldn't raise the desire to continue with it. Just made no sense at all. He writes very well, but it doesn't make me want to read it any more. Too bad.

[[deleted user]]

I re-read The Snow Child in the end. I was almost going to read Life After Life as recommended by Liz but discovered my mum had run off with it and was in the middle of reading it. So The Snow Child it was. I absolutely love this book - in fact I liked it even more this time around. It's become one of my favourites.

[Mercia]

Thanks for the reminder, Caroline, about Life After Life it was the first book I bought for my Kobo and nearly two years later it remains unread. Whether I can get through 500+ page in 2.5 days is another matter after another matter.

[Aneta]

I read and for this genre. Both disappointed me in their own way. 'The Night Circus' was beautifully written and it was a true feast for imagination but neither the plot nor the characters got me really engaged and I was left quite unsatisfied in the end. I then got my hopes up with 'Like Water for Chocolate', which at the beginning had the familiar flavour of Isabel Allende's books, but in the end it didn't resonate with me and I couldn't wait to finish it. I found the writing style somehow annoying, I hated the Mama Elena character and her attitude to her daughters and as a vegan I was actually put off by many of the recipes and food preparation descriptions:-(

[Kate, Moderator]

Just finished Eva Luna for this challenge. I'm not sure I really get Magical Realism!

[Mercia]

With five minutes of November left I have yet to finish Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, but it is great to finally make headway with it after it was my first Kobo purchase nearly two years ago (I have an inordinately long TBR pile). I'm at 52% and unlike the main character I get no second chances at months about to go by. I'd have liked the book if it had more magic to break up the languid realism. It feels like a short novel that the editor insisted by made into a long one. Plus point is that as well as name-checked suburbs I know in London it will do me for Buckinghamshire in the UK Counties Challenge.

[Ellie]

Caroline wrote: "I re-read The Snow Child in the end. I was almost going to read Life After Life as recommended by Liz but discovered my mum had run off with it and was in the middle..."

The Snow Child is my book for this month as well and I loved it too. 5* for me :)

[Davidg]

Well, I celebrated Magical Realism this month by reading a book that had no magical realism in it. In my defence I have read a book by Murakami, Haruki and all the other books I have read by him very much fit the theme. So, how was I to know that Norwegian Wood was the one that didn't. And now November has finished as well.

I did read A Wild Sheep Chase in October. Can I count that instead? (I enjoyed it more than Norwegian Wood too.)

[Kate, Moderator]

lol I would count your October book if I were you Davidg! I find it very difficult to find a magical realism book as often its the magical element that makes for the surprise ending and that's not mentioned in the blurb on the back. Tricky.

[Esther]

I am a bit late to this party - sorry.
For November I read real realism (I read a book about a war) but have just started The Snow Child.
Like @Kate (Trojanhorse) I am not sure about magical realism: Love in the Time of Cholera has to be one of my most disliked books ever but then The Shadow of the Wind is at the top of my favourites.
Both Life After Life and Kafka on the Shore are waiting on my shelf so there must be something about magical realism that appeals to me, at least in theory!

[Ellie]

I remember reading Norwegian Wood (after a few of his others which definitely had magical elements) and being really surprised it was just a straightforward story! His book about running is also straightforward.

[Em]

I can confirm that is not zstraight forward story - I'm about halfway through book two and really enjoying it although I can't begin to figure out what and where it is going. Not a quick read - I hope to finish in time for a Xmas book but at this rate it'll have to be a poem or a short story...

[Anne]

Read the Girl with the Glass feet Loved the book for its quirkiness.

[Tania]

Went with and I have to agree with Liz it did not hold me and the end was kind of irritating as it for me did not answer what happened.
Then went onto which was about a girl who had a crap life and could levitate. Not much better but at lest made sence.