EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion
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[ARCHIVES] CHALLENGE CORNER
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NEW "Around the World in Books" Challenge - Preliminary discussion
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A couple questions I had;
How do we decide where an author is from? Most of the time it will be easy, but sometimes there are authors born in say, India who moved to the United States when they were only 6 years old. I'm guessing this would count as a U.S. author?
Then there are authors like Franz Kafka who is well-known for German literature although he is from the Czech Republic and later in his life lived in Austria.
My second question is do you have to have a round trip? Could I start in Ireland and end in Afghanistan? or do I have to end in a country where I could travel back to Ireland? (obviously this doesn't apply to the easy level)
Tori wrote: "How do we decide where an author is from?"This has been debated before, I'll try to find that discussion
Anyway, it is a difficult question to answer.
.... "authors born in say, India who moved to the United States when they were only 6 years old."
Kahled Hosseini, our February read, is very close to this profile.
I'm guessing this would count as a U.S. author?
Agreed.
It will be easy to decide when there is a clear preference expressed by the author, the publisher, or there's a common sense among critics. Otherwise, difficult.
Is Kipling a valid author for India? Is "The Jungle Book" valid for England?
My suggested approach is, let's avoid debate and enjoy the richness of each Literature!
So, it will be up to each participant to decide to allocate Kafka either in the Czech Republic or in Austria.
Another suggestion: the book choice may help. Simenon was Belgian, but if you choose one book he wrote when living in France, that is OK.
Within some limits, of course. If someone says Borges is Brazilian or Alice Munroe is Japanese, well, I may decide not to validate that competitor. :-)
Tori wrote: "My second question is do you have to have a round trip? Yes! :-)
Because it is the ... AROUND the World .... challenge! :-)
So that I am clear on the challenge; Is the Author from the country or does the book take place in the country. I was assuming the latter until I read the above question.
Hi, Linda!The aim is not to choose books that take place in a given country. If a British writer like Agatha Christie sets a novel in Egypt, we're still reading British Literature.
The purpose of the game is to stimulate readers to explore other national literatures, like Russian, French, German, to mention some great ones. And all the others as well, so Peruvian, Chinese, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, etc. ! :-)
Marcos wrote: "Hi, Linda!The aim is not to choose books that take place in a given country. If a British writer like Agatha Christie sets a novel in Egypt, we're still reading British Literature.
The purpose o..."
Thanks for the clarification.
I don't know if you realized you're copying the title of an active group on goodreads. If you don't have another title, you might just change the number to something more realistic for the group.
I am so excited for this challenge! My only question is about the round trip concept. If I start in say, England, do I need to read a book by an English author both at the beginning and end of the challenge?
Oh! Also would plays or poetry count? Like Shakespear or William Blake stuff
Hi, this sounds like a really cool challenge. But I’m only just starting to rediscover my love of reading and I’m not sure I’ll be able to fit this is. I’ve set a 20 book reading goal this year and am looking forward to beating it! Good luck to everyone that takes part in this challenge.
I LOVE the idea! and I am excited about itMy only concern is that I am actually dying to travel and this challenge will not help :p
Also, I like naming difficulty levels by books, but I have read neither No Country for Old Men nor On the Road, so I am not picking the association with the difficulty level.
Can someone explain :D
PS. Your map example requires access, perhaps you should change the view permission to everyone :D
NancyJ wrote: "I don't know if you realized you're copying the title of an active group on goodreads. If you don't have another title, you might just change the number to something more realistic for the group."I used to be a member of that group. Here’s the link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
It is a great resource for suggestions for books for this challenge. There’s folders for books set in different geographic regions and in those folders are threads for authors from the region.
NancyJ wrote: "I don't know if you realized you're copying the title of an active group on goodreads. If you don't have another title, you might just change the number to something more realistic for the group."Oh, no! I thought I was sooo smart by creating this fancy name! :-)
Well, I did not know that. I'll have a look and think of something.
Of course "80 books" is not implying anyone has to go even near that quantity of books. :-) It was obviously just a reference to the famous Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
So, just changing the number to, say, ten books, won't do, it'll loose the reference. But thanks for the warning, let's see what can be done.
Nova wrote: "I am so excited for this challenge! My only question is about the round trip concept. If I start in say, England, do I need to read a book by an English author both at the beginning and end of the ..."Hi, Nova!
No, you do not need to read a last book from the same country in the end.
But your last book must be in a country from where you can travel back to England (in your example) according to the rules of your chosen level of difficulty, OK?
If you have a look at the sample travel / reading plan under "4. Joining the challenge", you'll see that one starts in France, the last book is from the US and there is a last travel back to France, but not a last book in France.
Zainab wrote: "I LOVE the idea! and I am excited about it .....Also, I like naming difficulty levels by books but I have read neither No Country for Old Men nor On the Road, so I am not picking the association with the difficulty level.
Can someone explain :D"
No big secret meanings to be inferred or found out! :-) Just plain associantions with the titles, not the plots.
1. "No Country for Old Men"
The title of the book is a from a line of W. B. Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium ". But it is a geneal reference to a being in difficult times or places which are no longer the ones you were used to. The Brazilian translation of the title was more like "Weak men don't stand a chance", not limiting itself to the old / age idea.
So, just a reference to difficulty here, or a warning, "Don't take this level if you're weak!". :-)
2. "On the road"
Just because you can travel by car or train. only. So, "road".
3. “Passenger to Frankfurt”
Just because this is an Agatha Christie book in which the passenger is an airplane passenger. Frankfurt was at the time (1970's) and still is an important flight hub. And in the easy level you can travel by flying.
Zainab wrote: "PS. Your map example requires access, perhaps you should change the view permission to everyone :D"Yes, I hadn't realized that! :-) Just changed the permission to "Anyone can visit".
I love the idea of this challenge and that it has different levels. I would like to extend my reading so this is perfect.
Marcos wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I don't know if you realized you're copying the title of an active group on goodreads. If you don't have another title, you might just change the number to something more realistic f..."Actually your "trip" format makes it sound a little like The Amazing Race.
It would be nice to have a place for book suggestions, like “here’s a list of books by authors from Zimbabwe.” That would make it easier for me to find books and plan my route.
Good idea, Sarina. But hard to build from scratch - lists, I mean..I think the other "Around the World in 80 Books" GR group NancyJ mentioned has lists with more than 50,000 books, that could be a source.
But the idea of a place for suggestions is great. I'll include it some way. Participants could ask for specific suggestions too. Like if you need Zimbabwe for your route to work, you could ask for suggestions of Zimbabwean authors.
Marcos wrote: "Good idea, Sarina. But hard to build from scratch - lists, I mean..I think the other "Around the World in 80 Books" GR group NancyJ mentioned has lists with more than 50,000 books, that could be ..."
A place for suggestions sounds good and I will definitely check out that Goodreads group
Altough it seems they're more interested in books with the plot set in a certain country. Their last poll, for instance, was for books set in Pakistan.
Marcos wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I don't know if you realized you're copying the title of an active group on goodreads. If you don't have another title, you might just change the number to something more realistic f..."How about "Around the World", "Around the World Literature", "Around the World in So Many Books" . . . there are lots of alternatives.
I love this challenge, and the different levels. It may be a bit much for me this year, but maybe I can piggy back it onto the "Around the World in 80 Days" challenge I'm trying to put together for my library. Mine will focus on the setting of the book, instead of literature of a specific country.I do like the focus of this challenge being on the literature of different countries. There seems to be quite a bit of interest in that with this book club.
I also like the different levels and the ability to plan your own route. My challenge will follow the path of Jules Verne's book, so the destinations may not interest everyone.
Shelley wrote: "How about "Around the World", "Around the World Literature", "Around the World in So Many Books" . . . there are lots of alternatives."Really! :-) I had thought of just taking the "80" out of the title. But there's time to think.
Thanks for the excellent suggestions, Shelley!
I am trying to find the books I want to read during my trip before I post a conclusive route, but I am having difficulty finding a novel by a Costa Rician author that is translated into English. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.
Costa Rica: A Traveler's Literary Companion
Contemporary Costa Rican Poetry
Endless Voyage
https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Voyage...
https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Tata-M...
Possible sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_R...
Costa Rican literature - famous writers
http://costarica-information.com/abou...
That's good: we're still discussing the challenge, and people are already planning routes!! :-)And Sarina's idea for a place for suggestions has only been suggested, but seems to be already working!! :-)
I like the challenge. I think 12 books for the year would be great. My link is includes non-American authors but the point I’m making is, the Author of the book should be how we keep it a travel challenge., and yes, American authors may be included in this challenge.https://www.newinbooks.com/top-10-fic...
Great link, Anjanette!Of course American authors can be included. Just not by American participants! :-)
I, for instance, won't be allowed to include Brazilian authors, etc. Because the general aim is to encourage people to read outside of their major literatures - which, in most cases, will be their national literature.
There has to be some difficulty in a challenge! :-)
We might consider an "extra easy" level in which you could include your own national literature as well. But I don't think that'd make sense, because we all probably will be reading some of our national authors along the year anyway. We wouldn't need a challenge for that!
One point of yours wasn't clear for me, that of the author of the book.
In the link it states the Author’s name and Country of Origin and Setting. I suggest we go by the Author’s country of origin.
Understood now. But that's a tricky question. The country of origin is where the author was born.
But there's a good example in that selection, which is Kazuo Ishiguro. He moved to Britian at a very young age, went to school there, lived there for the rest of his life, writes in English, etc. Many wouldn't include him in the Japanese Literature, but rather in the British.
There are too many complicated situations. Milan Kundera is Czech, but writes in French and has said his books should be in the French section of bookstores. If you applied the "country of origin" criteria to him, he wouldn't be happy, I think.
That's why I suggested that we be more flexible. If you read Kundera in France or in the Czech Republic, it will be all right for our challenge.
Unless, of course, you are way too flexible and go as far as to say Kundera is Portuguese! :-) That, naturally, wouldn't be acceptable.
This is more effort than I usually take on planning what to read. once the course is set, it would be very interesting. if someone wants to be my type guide. I would join their tour!
Marco, I did not read the link attached to your first post. I clearly understand the challenge and I like it. I can’t wait for this challenge to begin.
So I think that I figured out my rout (that was much harder than I anticipated) and I am now even more excited!I did want to double check about author qualifications, although I think i'm pretty solid. I have a book that I want to read for China and the author identifies as a 'Chinese/American author' but even though she was born in China she moved to the US when she was pretty young (very similar to the Kundera situation). I feel like it counts based off of what was already said, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to be a disqualifier or something.
Hehe, it was in part designed to be hard, at least at Level 1 - Difficult. >:-)
Nova, it is easier to assess if you give me a link to the book or the author.
I need travel buddies, lol. I prefer short stories for this challenge.Czech Republic-The Metamorphosis-Frank Kafka
TO
Austria-Amok-Stefan Zweig
TO
Italy, any suggestions?
I think this sounds like a really fun challenge! The varying levels make it accessible to a wide variety of readers and the challenge of getting out of the "norm" of book types/culture/nationality is a huge draw! A place for suggestions would, I think, be necessary! For instance, if I was to go to Brazil, I don't know any Brazilian authors, but you could provide me with lots I am sure : ) We have members from so many places, it would be fun to share and learn more about where we all are from!
I will probably do an easier route because I tend to overburden myself with challenges and don't make them overlap much (my bad) but I think this one I could make a few substitutions in other challenges I have set :) And then, I can always add in stops if it goes well and visit a few more countries. Time to scope my TBR list and see if I can make a plan!
Anjanette wrote: "I need travel buddies, lol. I prefer short stories for this challenge.Czech Republic-The Metamorphosis-Frank Kafka
TO
Austria-Amok-Stefan Zweig
TO
Italy, any suggestions?"
If you are looking for a classic, you have The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.
But a quick google search brought up this list from goodreads: Notable Novels by Italian Authors
Also this list off goodreads: Contemporary Italian Writers
Good luck!
So to clarify: Khaled Hosseini would NOT count as an Afghanistan writer?
Would Kamila Shamsie be a Pakistani author? She came up under a list of 11 Pakistani Authors. Born in Pakistan, but went to school elsewhere, living in London but spending a lot of time between the two.
Or does this fall under the "let the reader decide and let's just have fun" category?
Marcos wrote: "Hehe, it was in part designed to be hard, at least at Level 1 - Difficult. >:-)
Nova, it is easier to assess if you give me a link to the book or the author."
Oops! I totally thought I added a link! Sorry about that...
The book is The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I know that she lives in the US but I'm thinking that it counts since she's A) from China, B) listed as a Chinese author and C) she's mentioned that her culture has influenced her work.
That's my thoughts, but I trust your opinion Marcos.
Nova wrote: "The book is The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I know that she lives in the US but I'm thinking that it counts since she's A) from China, B) listed as a Chinese author and C) she's mentioned that her culture has influenced her work.That's my thoughts, but I trust your opinion Marcos.
Nova, I think you'll take my opinion as bad news. :-)
Quite an author, I hadn't heard of her. That's great aspect of being in a book club! :-)
But I think her situation is close to Kazuo Ishiguro's.
OK, she was born in China, but immigrated to the US at the age of 4! So, where did she learn to read and write (in English, at school), what did she hear at kindergarten (English all around), what kind of TV shows did she watch (American ones), movies? What kind of culture all around her (except for the family, of course)? All American high school things like proms, I mean she totally grew up and formed her personality in the US. And now she is studying at Cambridge. She is a western, culturally.
That's different from an author that moves to a country as an adult, with his mind totally formed in his original culture.
For instance, George Simenon moved to Switzerland. By the way, Paulo Coelho did the same. Does that make them Swiss authors? Of course not. Their mind didn't move, just their address.
R. F. Kuang is an American author of Chinese origin, of course, and is very concerned about Chinese matters and history in her studies and writing, but still an American writer. Being published, of course, by an American publisher, Harper Collins.
So, I wouldn't classify her as belonging to Chinese Literature.
That would have to be Mo Yan, for instance.
That's my view, of course, others might think otherwise.
Like I said, there are some shady borders in many cases - not in this case, so we should still consider other points.
- You said she is listed as a Chinese author. Where? I'd like to have a look a that list, who listed, since this is the first time I talk about this author.
- "her culture influences her work". Of course, but this doesn't help, because it is the same with every writer in the world in all times. :-)
Unless we get any more detailed information, it is like this:
> I wouldn't place her in Chinese literature.
> But yes, there is some degree of imprecision in those boundaries, so the flexibility rule could be used here.
> So, you ponder what I said and you decide. :-) No disqualifying granted whatever you decide to do.
> We're still experimenting. Next year, maybe, I might tighten the rules. :-)
Barbara wrote: "This is more effort than I usually take on planning what to read. once the course is set, it would be very interesting. if someone wants to be my type guide. I would join their tour!"That's an entirely new idea, and a great one, Barbara!!
Let's include this possibility!
So, if one is keen to read but not to plan a literary route, and likes someone else's reading plan, they can ask the route creator for permission to go reading around the globe together!
Just for you all to know (some asked me), the schedule is this- Jan 3 -10: Preliminary discussion (here). Challenge not started.
- Jan 11 - 13: Adjustments. Challenge is launched, main thread is opened to comments. Participants join and post their travel / reading plan.
so if I want to read Kevin Kwan, who was born in Singapore but lives in the US now, that does not work???I have read works that have been translated into English and have some books that are on my list for this year but is that the "real criteria" here? Because other English speaking countries would argue that their national literature gives a unique perspective as well. For example Canadian literature is different from American, British or Australian.
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