Orgeluse's EtL Bingo Challenge 2025

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

I am looking forward to this challenge in 2025 :))

3/16

Sq 1 = a title from a European country not in the EU
(countries to choose from: Iceland, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Moldau, Montenegro, North-Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-H., Albania, Switzerland)

Sq 2 = a title originally written in a Slavic language

Sq 3 = a group read

Sq 4 = a title from a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea

Sq 5 = a title displaying LGBTQ character(s) / topic

Sq 6 = a title from a EU member state with a currency other than the Euro
(Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, Sweden)

Sq 7 = a title by a winner of any prize of literature

Sq 8 = a title written in the 19th century

Sq 9 = a title from a country bordering the Baltic Sea

Sq 10 = a graphic novel

Sq 11 = a title written after WWII in a European country that does not exist anymore
(Soviet Union, GDR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia)

Sq 12 = a title originally written in a Romance language

Sq 13 = a title from a country with the Euro as its currency

Sq 14 = a title from a country with mountains

Sq 15 = a title published 2020 or even later

Sq 16 = a title that can be considered genre fiction

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

Some titles I aim to read in 2025:

Halldór Laxness: Atomstation
Sara Baume: Handiwork
Claire Keegan: So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men
Serhiy Zhadan: Hymne der Demokratischen Jugend
Yury Trifonov: Das Haus an der Moskwa
Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
Tove Ditlevsen: The Copenhagen Trilogy
Tove Ditlevsen: Vilhelms Zimmer: Roman
Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont: Novellen (Reclam DDR-Ausgabe)

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

I started Walk Through Walls: A Memoir by Marina Abramović, an autobiography which fits to Sq 11.

[Erin]

Orgeluse wrote: "I started Walk Through Walls: A Memoir by Marina Abramović, an autobiography which fits to Sq 11."

Oooh, that looks intriguing!

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

It is definitely worth reading and/or listening to. I have the audio version which works out perfectly fine!
To get to know about her upbringing and development as an artist is rather interesting of course with respect to her (performing) art. She will be turning 80 next year and to me is an entirely fascinating personality.

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

I finished Walk Through Walls: A Memoir by Marina Abramović which fits Sq. 1, 11 and 14. I have not yet decided where to place it :))
As far as the book is concerned this memoir gives a thorough insight into Abramovic's childhood in Yugoslavia during the 40s and 50s. It covers her career from its beginnings in the 60s through to the 2010s and it renders her personal view on her two love relationships with Ulay and Paolo Canevari.
She gives very detailed descriptions of her major performances, how she developed them and how she prepared herself, what happened during and after her performances. These descriptions and her account of what she did to develop her personality in the course of her life were to me the most interesting parts of this memoir.

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

I finished The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky which fits Sq 1, 2, 8 and 14.
One night, this book's anti-hero meets his double who is his exact opposite and who turns our anti-hero's life upside down. The book's strengths is the depiction of Goljadkin as an insecure character whose psychological decline can be read in different ways: on the one hand as the depiction of an insecure personality turning paranoic / schizophrenic but on the other hand as the portrait of a society that is hierarchical and displays a large number of laws of behaviour. At the same time this society is rather superficial and therefore turns those members insane who are not able to cope.

[Carolien]

Orgeluse wrote: "I finished The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky which fits Sq 1, 2, 8 and 14.
One night, this book's anti-hero meets his double who is his exact opposite and who turns our..."

This looks interesting, I am loath to tackle Dostoevsky's longer works, but I liked The Gambler, so might try this as well. Thanks, Orgeluse!

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

I finished Atomstation by nobel prize winner Halldór Laxness from Iceland which was another 5-star-read!
It fits Sq 1 and 7.
The novel deals with the political and the social situation as well as the state of the arts in Iceland after WWII and after the country's final independence from Denmark in 1944, but before the foundation of the NATO.
In the face of the Cold War, the Americans wish to establish a military base in the country which means opening Icelandic society and its arts to Western values. This step is not approved of by everyone. Whereas Iceland's ruling class is in favor of selling part of the land to the US as they are after the money that they will gain by this, there are others who are against this move as they see the corruption and the danger for the country's culture behind it.
The novel's strengths is that it presents topics such as social injustice, the idea of communism, crime and corruption as well as the meaning of the arts through the eyes of a young woman from the countryside who comes to Reykjavik to serve as a maid in the household of one of Iceland's leading families.
The unique style of writing which is humorous and in parts to the point of surreal creates a very special atmosphere throughout the novel and contributes strongly to rendering and discussing the above mentioned topics.

[Anetq]

Orgeluse wrote: "I finished Atomstation by nobel prize winner Halldór Laxness from Iceland which was another 5-star-read!
It fits Sq 1 and 7.
The novel deals with the political and the ..."

Sounds pretty good!! Laxness is on my Nobel list and I did live in Reykjavík for a while so it could be interesting :)

[Jen]

Yea, your description does sound interesting! Adding to TBR :) I've never read from Iceland before.

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

Jen wrote: "Yea, your description does sound interesting! Adding to TBR :) I've never read from Iceland before."

Another writer from Iceland I can recommend is Sjón! My favorite so far is Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was but his other novels are also pretty good reads!

[Anetq]

Jen wrote: "Yea, your description does sound interesting! Adding to TBR :) I've never read from Iceland before."

Oooh I must recommend Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir her title Hotel Silence won the nordic council literature award - and is great! I always enjoy her books :)

[Orgeluse, Contemporary reads]

Anetq wrote: "Jen wrote: "Yea, your description does sound interesting! Adding to TBR :) I've never read from Iceland before."

Oooh I must recommend Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir her title

Thanks for pointing out Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir! I have not yet read anything by her, but Miss Iceland sounds entertaining!

[Anetq]

I haven't yet read that one, but I've read 4 or 5 others, and I always enjoy them!