Around the World discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
2012-2024 Discussions
>
Where in the World Have You Been?!?! (Book Finished and Review Linked)
Chel wrote: "I liked that book alot, especially as it was an early example of an African viewpoint of the colonial era by a native African author and it is more nuanced than the publicity it gets. "In an interview with Achebe printed after the text, he even said that he thought Africa "gained a lot" from the colonial period and that he thought the pre-colonial Ibo society had a "cruel" side to it. So, yes, I do think Achebe is a lot more complex in his view than his reputation--or what I'd heard of it. Or even than a lot of reviewers of the book admit who seem determined to put a "Dances With Wolves" gloss on it no matter what.
Chrissie wrote: "I realize now that what is most important to me, more than plot, is an author's writing style.."I find that too, Chrissie.
Judy, LOL. I found out all that about what happened in Abbotsbury while in the Overberg. Edward decided not to write little history books after all but turned to writing what happened between Florence and himself in a diary which the seaside wind swept away and which a South African student then on the way to Heidelberg caught and recycled as a bookmark. On returning to home, s/he donated book and bookmark to a book stall in Barrydale where I stopped during my outdoor adventure. Greetings from the Tradouw. Pretty wildflowers and panoramic vistas beckon.
Just left Ancient Egypt via Mahfouz's Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth and you can find my review here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I find Ancient Egypt fascinating, and Mahfouz is a Nobel Prize winning author, so I expected to love this, but merely liked it. It's a very short, quick read, so not a huge investment if the subject interests you--I read it in little more than two hours.
Sheena wrote: "...after the thrashing my soul took with A Fine Balance, I needed something light to recover..."I hope that you escape the lingering memory of "A Fine Balance", a book whose scenes and rationale still reoccur to me after a few years. It's getting better.
Harmonybites wrote: "Just left Ancient Egypt via Mahfouz's Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth and you can find my review here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I find Ancient Egypt fascinating, and..."
I did not read that one , my favorite in this area for him is Khufu's Wisdom , but I read it about 15 years ago .
*****
I finished Love in the Time of Cholera , I did not like it as I expected to (big deal of that was the protagonist ) . Yet I admit that I enjoyed the era and the historical atmosphere of colombia by the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th . I did not write a review .
Although I returned from Haiti several days ago, I have only now had time to record my impressions of my journey to Haiti's 18th-19th century revolution. Here is my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Nile daughter wrote: "I did not read that one , my favorite in this area for him is Khufu's Wisdom , but I read it about 15 years ago .*****
I finished Love in the Time of Cholera , I did not like it as I expected to (big deal of that was the protagonist ) ."
Even though I didn't adore the Akhenaten book, I liked Mahfouz just enough I'd be interested in trying that some day.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is on my list for Columbia--One Hundred Years of Solitude--I hope I'll like him more than you did--even though I think I'm almost dreading it as much as anticipating. Don't always adore magical realism--and boy that puppy is long
I just finished reading John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. I just got back from New Orleans, LA. My review is here!
Now onto Australia!
Harmonybites wrote: "Even though I didn't adore the Akhenaten book, I liked Mahfouz just enough I'd be interested in trying that some day. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is on my list for Columbia--One Hundred Years of Solitude--I hope I'll like him more than you did--even though I think I'm almost dreading it as much as anticipating. Don't always adore magical realism--and boy that puppy is long..."
For Mahfouz , that is good to hear :) I read so many books for him .BTW if Ancient Egypt is not your only target , you can consider The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street
For my list ,I will be reading The Harafish with some members here in April.
For Marquez , same happened to me as you with Mahfouz ,so I liked the way he writes , so this will not be my last read for him ,also I started "One Hundred Years of Solitude" before in a bad timing and stopped , but I am planning to get back to it (not soon) good luck with it :)
Sheena wrote: "Jenny - you may be on the right path with making treats from each of the countries. "I've started to call it "immersive reading." If you add music and food, wow, what an experience.
I've finished my sojourn in Hungary in The Invisible Bridge, which was a really fantastic read. I've begun Agaat which takes me to South Africa and also The Passport by Herta Muller which brings me to Romania. Once again I'm commuting between continents!
Barry wrote: "I've chartered an air balloon to take me out of Manila, Phillipines after a wonderful escapade w/ Lauren B's great recommendation IlustradoMy review"
Great review, Barry. Looks like you had a great time on the second leg of your journey. Wiped out the memory of the book that shall not be mentioned. :)
I reluctantly left the warmth and richness of Iran. I finished the audiobook The Blood of Flowers. My review is here.I gave the book 5 stars, my first of 2012.
when I finished The Invisible Bridge I forgot to say I rated it 5, really enjoyed it. and I didn't provide a link to my review, http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... .
Janice wrote: "I reluctantly left the warmth and richness of Iran. I finished the audiobook The Blood of Flowers. My review is here.I gave the book 5 stars, my first of 2012."
Thanks for the review ! I have read it a year ago , here is my review ,(Sigheh) was an important issue for me as well to think about and write.
Janice wrote: "I reluctantly left the warmth and richness of Iran. I finished the audiobook The Blood of Flowers. My review is here.I gave the book 5 stars, my first of 2012."
I'm glad you enjoyed it Janice, it was a couple of years ago that I read it, but I really liked it
Sue wrote: "when I finished The Invisible Bridge I forgot to say I rated it 5, really enjoyed it. and I didn't provide a link to my review, http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ."I've got this one to read too Sue, glad to hear it lived up to the hype!
I just spent two days in Belgium and read Cheese
. It was a very good book about middle class life and attempted career progression in 1930's Belgium. I would recommend it highly and may write a non-spoiler review of it in a Belgium file. It was a funny, short, literary read that I liked alot.
I finished Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance last Wednesday (January 11). It was one of my bookclub reads. I was really struck by the lack of hope in the book.
Just left Tahiti, with a quick trip through Frangipani: A Novel (review here).I also baked up some po'e, so come on over....
Just finished up my stay in Ireland with Skippy Dies--I really enjoyed it, and the audio version is great! Review here.
Just had recently left Tanzania and now just departed Rwanda. Right after reading Jane Goodall's Reason for Hope
a memoir that took in her time studying chimpanzees in the wild, I read Dian Fossey's Gorillas in the Mist
about her work with the mountain gorilla.The first isn't on my 52 books list, but I mention it if anyone's interested in choosing a book for Tanzania. Fossey's book was on my list and my review can be found here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Both women were recruited to study great apes in the wild by legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey.
I wasn't crazy about either book. With Goodall, I could have wished much more about the chimpanzees, and a lot less about her political and spiritual beliefs. With Fossey, I found a lot of the material about the gorillas too detailed and dry--more a scientific paper than a tale about nature and adventure. Both books have moving moments though.
My response to the two women was very different. I disagree a lot with Goodall's world view--but at the end, I felt for her a lot of liking, respect, even admiration. It was very different with Fossey--given how she herself described how she treated those around her, I wound up not much liking her at all, and fairly or not, that's reflected in my rating.
I can't do it. I can't read My Year in Oman: An American Experience in Arabia During the War on Terror. Maybe in the future, but not now, when there are well-written books to enjoy. I've ordered Oman, Under Arabian Skies from Book Depository.
I leave France saddened for the fate of Kimberly Cutter's very accessible Joan of Arc. Here's my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Harmonybites wrote: My response to the two women was very different. I disagree a lot with Goodall's world view--but at the end, I felt for her a lot of liking, respect, even admiration. It was very different with Fossey--given how she herself described how she treated those around her, I wound up not much liking her at all, and fairly or not, that's reflected in my rating. @Harmonybites, I like your analysis of the two books. Fossey was certainly a far less palatable character than Goodall, and having read Gorillas in the Mist you do wonder which parts of her story are left untold. However, I preferred it to Goodall's memoir. I think that the dry, spare writing, which is very matter of fact, appealed to me more than Goodall's style, which was very self-analytical.
Judy wrote: "Sharon wrote: "I finished Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance last Wednesday (January 11). I was really struck by the lack of hope in the book."Sharon, is there any hope in it at all? I'..."
I did not see anything in the book that spoke of hope for either India or humanity. Others in my bookclub disagreed, but I think they read hope into the book because they really wanted to see it. Reviewers tend to say that it is a hard read because of all that happens to the characters but they also say it is well written. I don't find that to be true. And it's not that I'm averse to difficult subject matter: I loved Fall on Your Knees, for example. But I found MacDonald's book provided a more in-depth exploration of the characters, giving the reader a similarly rich understanding of why and how they did the things they did and reacted the ways they did. I felt that richness and depth was lacking in A Fine Balance. Our book club did agree there was a curious emotional detachment in Mistry's book, but most of the others were glad it was there as it provided a kind of buffer between the reader and the events in the book.
Given that most people disagree with my review of A Fine Balance, I would not want you to decide to read or not read the book on the basis of my opinion. It does present a very realistic view of the Emergency in India, and, unfortunately, much of what happened then still happens today. In that way, it is an important read. Please do look around, see what others think before you decide! If you do read it, please let me know what you think!
Just left Istanbul, Turkey. If anyone is still looking for a book recommendation Portrait of a Turkish Familyis a fantastic read! Off to Australia...
I thought I was off the ice floe! I finished reading Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage last night, crawled into bed and woke this morning to -37C. It's not hard to convert that to Fahrenheit since Celcius and Fahrenheit meet at -40. It's colder here than it was for Ernest Shackleton. At least I'm not soaking wet like they were. Seriously, I don't know how they survived!I haven't done my review yet. I'll link it when I do.
Leaving behind Bolivia and the failed guerrilla campaign detailed in The Bolivia Diary by Che Guevara. Not for everyone, it is more of a primary history document than a textbook (e.g. Guerilla Warfare)or travelogue (e.g. The Motorcycle Diaries).http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Janice, that is seriously cold. Is that -37 including wind chill?
Anne wrote: "Janice, that is seriously cold. Is that -37 including wind chill?"No. It's without the wind chill.
Janice wrote: "Anne wrote: "Janice, that is seriously cold. Is that -37 including wind chill?"No. It's without the wind chill."
BBRRRR! I thought I had it bad.
Here is my review of Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Where are you, Anne? What are the temperatures there?
I'm in the CO, above Boulder in the Rocky Mountains at 8600 ft elevation. Right now it is 2 degrees with windchill of -20. in the little town near me. I'm above it so the winds are more fierce; therefore it's much colder. I really don't know exactly how cold it is.
Janice wrote: "Anne wrote: "Janice, that is seriously cold. Is that -37 including wind chill?"No. It's without the wind chill."
Wow, that is seriously cold, Janice! it's been -18 (-32 with wind chill) in Montreal, but we've been having yo-yo weather. We're going to -2 today, and it's snowing which means freezing rain.... ugh.
Vicky wrote: "Fossey was certainly a far less palatable character than Goodall, and having read Gorillas in the Mist you do wonder which parts of her story are left untold. However, I preferred it to Goodall's memoir. I think that the dry, spare writing, which is very matter of fact, appealed to me more than Goodall's style, which was very self-analytical. "I understand feeling that way. Both books disappointed me frankly, because I do find anthropology fascinating, even took classes and considered it for a major. With Fossey though, by the end I found it hard to trust her--which is a major issue in a memoir. There really were moving parts even so--those wild orphans--and if you are interested in gorillas, a lot of information!
Sonya wrote: "Just left Istanbul, Turkey. If anyone is still looking for a book recommendation Portrait of a Turkish Familyis a fantastic read! Off to Australia..."So glad to hear that! It's on my list, so it's nice to know that others are enjoying it!
In/near Vienna, Austria, today, snowing lightly @ low thirties (F) as I'm writing my review of The Post-Office Girl. Prepare to travel back to 1926. Soon, gon' to South Africa @ eighties (F).
I'm continuing with my schizophrenic reading and traveling: South Africa for Agaat, then Romania for The Passport and Norway for Out Stealing Horses. I must have one of those Star Trek transporters.
I have departed Israel/Palestine with In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story and am now knee deep in abdications, fascism and extra-marital affairs in The Viceroy's Daughters The Lives of the Curzon Sisters which takes place for the most part in London. Next stop is most likely going to be Baghdad with Late for Tea at the Deer Palace. Hope everyone stays warm!
Sharon wrote: "Janice wrote: "Anne wrote: "Janice, that is seriously cold. Is that -37 including wind chill?"No. It's without the wind chill."
Wow, that is seriously cold, Janice! it's been -18 (-32 with win..."
Okay I feel bad. Yesterday I was complaining that its freezing because it was in the 40's. That would be a heatwave to you ladies right now.
How do you like the beeping, whirring, and humming of the Star Trek transporter?
Asmah wrote: "How do you like the beeping, whirring, and humming of the Star Trek transporter?"With my congestion, I can barely hear it. At least I come through whole, no body parts left behind in other dimensions.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Around the World
Books mentioned in this topic
The Orphan Master's Son (other topics)Kino: A Novel (other topics)
True: A Novel (other topics)
Secretum (other topics)
Secretum (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Eduardo Galeano (other topics)Coleridge Cook (other topics)
Tomas Tranströmer (other topics)
Gloria Whelan (other topics)
Michael Morpurgo (other topics)
More...
I liked that book alot, especially as it was an early example of an African viewpoint of the colonial era by a native African author and it is more nuanced than the publicity it gets.