Spring 2012 AtW Questions and Answers

[[deleted user]]

LOL. Its still in the "To read" list even if it doesn't work for this. :) And there's a whole 20 other tasks coming.... Though I decided to tour the world via mystery, and given that I'll probably try not to do mysteries for any other tasks.

[Liz M]

Leigh wrote: "Liz M wrote:
Tarquin Hall was born in London, is described as "a British writer and journalist," and divides his time between London and De..."

Oops! I missed the switch from "resident" to "nati..."

How about editing the first to indicate that you've changed plans and the re-post when ready. The Coroner's Lunch is really borderline, but at least the author in question appears to be a permanent, long-term resident of Laos. Following the "letter of the law" I have equal arguments for and against.

[Liz M]

Leigh wrote: "LOL. Its still in the "To read" list even if it doesn't work for this. :) And there's a whole 20 other tasks coming.... Though I decided to tour the world via mystery, and given that I'll proba..."

Manjiri Prabhu?

[Rebekah]

To be sure to be sure, no points for LiT or oldies?

Also I noticed residency has been marked out so what is the difference between country of birth and Nationality? Would that make Kipling work for India if you want to read Kim,or UK if you wanted to read Puck of Pook Hill?

Would nationality be what your parents are? If your parents were born in India but you were born and raised in the US. What would that be?

[Connie]

Rebekah wrote: "I thought it was in the middle of the sea! Actually I think I remember the main character was born in Bombay, India when he talks about how he got his nickname."

Yes, that would be Life of Pi, another book of his, unless he uses the same plot in all his books :) I'm gonna find out sooner or later.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Rebekah wrote: "To be sure to be sure, no points for LiT or oldies? "

Around the World has no style points, but I assume you're referring to Liz's posting of rules and style points for the RwS. I think the intent is to rotate some of our regular style points so, no LiT or oldies this time. Instead, we have Bloom's Canon and Not a Novel.

[Liz M]

Rebekah wrote: "To be sure to be sure, no points for LiT or oldies?
Correct.

Rebekah wrote: "Also I noticed residency has been marked out so what is the difference between country of birth and Nationality? Would that make Kipling work for India if you want to read Kim,or UK if you wanted to read Puck of Pook Hill? ..."

Nationality: membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity.

Birthplace is NOT the same as nationality & this is the whole reason for having the criteria for the books in the first place -- to determine which country books qualify for if an author was born in one country but a citizen of another. Kipling was born in India, but was a citizen of the UK (his nationality). So, his books set in India qualify for India (country of birth, setting) and his books set in the UK qualify for the UK (nationality, setting).

Rebekah wrote: "Would nationality be what your parents are? If your parents were born in India but you were born and raised in the US. What would that be?

If you were born and raised in the US, unless you've renounced citizenship, your nationality is American.

If you are unsure, check wikipedia. For most well-known authors they have a side-bar on the right that details place of birth and nationality.

[Rebekah]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "As for your Yann Martel, I looked at a few reviews. Only one references an "unnamed city". I don't think that helps you, and I'm guessing the setting of this novel is intentionally vague."

I looked it up. The boy is from Pondicherry in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi

[Rebekah]

Liz M wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "To be sure to be sure, no points for LiT or oldies?
Correct.

Rebekah wrote: "Also I noticed residency has been marked out so what is the difference between country of birth and Nat..."

thanks, got it.
Now I'll go try to think up some more complicated questions.(smile)

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Rebekah wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "As for your Yann Martel, I looked at a few reviews. Only one references an "unnamed city". I don't think that helps you, and I'm guessing the setting of this novel is int..."

To be sure, but Life of Pi isn't the book in question.

[Rebekah]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "To be sure to be sure, no points for LiT or oldies? "

Around the World has no style points, but I assume you're referring to Liz's posting of rules and style points for the RwS. I ..."

Okay!

[Liz M]

Karen,

On a quick internet search, I cannot find a specific setting for Of Love and Shadows -- it is usually described as set in "a Latin American country". I'll do a little more poking around, but let me know if you have a reference to the setting.

[Karen Michele]

Liz M wrote: "Karen,

On a quick internet search, I cannot find a specific setting for Of Love and Shadows -- it is usually described as set in "a Latin American country". I'll do a little more poking around, b..."

Ok, I'll look. If not, I'll switch to a different Allende that states set in Chile.

[Karen Michele]

Karen GHHS wrote: "Liz M wrote: "Karen,

On a quick internet search, I cannot find a specific setting for Of Love and Shadows -- it is usually described as set in "a Latin American country". I'll do a little more po..."

I'm going to switch to:

Inés of My Soul

I don't think I read it before, but if I start it and I have I still have two by her that state Chile as the setting I could use. Should I edit the post or post a new itinerary?

[Liz M]

Karen GHHS wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "Liz M wrote: "Karen,

On a quick internet search, I cannot find a specific setting for Of Love and Shadows -- it is usually described as set in "a Latin American country". I'll ..."

Editing the post is fine -- the itinerary approval is technically just for the route, but it's nice to have the time to check the individual books now (rather than posting a book & finding that it doesn't work).

[Rebekah]

Would this author count for Greece? He was born and raised in Pa but His bio says Mykonos, Greece has been his "adopted home for the past twenty-five years"
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

[Liz M]

Rebekah wrote: "Would this author count for Greece? He was born and raised in Pa but His bio says Mykonos, Greece has been his "adopted home for the past twenty-five years"
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/32..."

I am going to say no to Jeffery Sigler qualifying for Greece. He was born in the US, seems to be referred to as an American writer, and apparently has a farm in NY as well as a home in Greece.

[Liz M]

Connie,

Impressive reading list! I want to borrow several stops of your itinerary. I love that you are trying to stop at Antarctica, but it looks like the Poe book takes place entirely at sea.

Have you read At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft?

[Liz M]

Shannon,

As Elizabeth already pointed out, your itinerary is lacking the East/West longitudinal designations & is therefore not traveling around the world in one direction. Please revise.

Aslo, I am going to say that Gerald Durrell does not qualify for Greece -- he was born in India, only lived in Greece for four years and seems to have spent the bulk of his adult life based in the UK.

[Shannon SA]

Liz M wrote: "Shannon,

As Elizabeth already pointed out, your itinerary is lacking the East/West longitudinal designations & is therefore not traveling around the world in one direction. Please revise.

Aslo, ..."

Hi Liz M, sorry, just picked this one up now - will edit my itinerary (post 18) - thank you!

[Connie]

Liz M wrote: "Connie,

Impressive reading list! I want to borrow several stops of your itinerary. I love that you are trying to stop at Antarctica, but it looks like the Poe book takes place entirely at sea.

I looked at Wikipedia for this book and this seemed to suggest that they land, albeit on a fictional island, in Antarctica.
Anyway, could I switch it to your suggestion, and if Lovecraft turns out to be too tentacled, would
South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Farm, 1910-12 be an acceptable substitute?

[Liz M]

Connie wrote: "Anyway, could I switch it to your suggestion, and if Lovecraft turns out to be too tentacled, would
South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Farm, 1910-12 be an acceptable substitute?..."

Yes, it works!

[Connie]

Thanks Liz, have adjusted my itinerary accordingly!

And I find all the other routes really interesting too, I think my"to-read" list got at least 15 new additions :). Great challenge!

[Kathleen (itpdx)]

Question: The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. Obreht was born in Belgrade when it was in Yugoslavia (it is now in Serbia) and the info on the book says set in Balkan country--Goodreads says Yugoslavia. Obreht (so young) has lived a number of places but appears to be a US resident now. Can I use as a European book with the longitude of Belgrade (based on A & C)?

[Liz M]

itpdx wrote: "Question: The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. Obreht was born in Belgrade when it was in Yugoslavia (it is now in Serbia) and the info on the book says set in Balkan co..."

Unfortunately, I am going to say no to this one because the location, in most places I've looked, is "an unnamed Balkan country".

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

itpdx, you'll see that Liz has posted some of the 20-point tasks. You could still read that for this challenge, as it qualifies for 20.2 True Colors when it won the Orange Prize.

[Karen Michele]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "itpdx, you'll see that Liz has posted some of the 20-point tasks. You could still read that for this challenge, as it qualifies for 20.2 True Colors when it won the Orange Prize."

Yes! The tasks are awesome- so excited!

[Carolyn]

OK, I have a little bit of a weird one. I've had Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker on my list for awhile and this seems like it could be a chance to read it. However, it is a book about an African woman from a fictional African country, written by an American author and set in Africa, the US and I believe some parts in Europe as well. Is this book eligible?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Carolyn wrote: "OK, I have a little bit of a weird one. I've had Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker on my list for awhile and this seems like it could be a chance to read it. H..."

Alice Walker was born in the US and is of US nationality, so this book would qualify as a US book.

The book read must meet two of the three criteria: author's birth, author's nationality, setting.

[Carolyn]

Thanks Elizabeth, I think I was over-complicating things for myself!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I know how that works. ;-)

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I have a question, I want to read an author Justine Larbaleister(sp?). She is from Sydney Austraila. I just checked for Goodreads page and it said she was born and raised there so she qualify for both A born in that country and B) nationality of that country, yes?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Yes, she would qualify for your Australia stop.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

*does the happy joey dance*

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Are you going to read Liar?

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I am planning on it yes. I met the author. She came to our school for a book talk. She is really nice and I have a signed copy of the book.

[Amy W]

Can I read a book of poetry? I was thinking The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda. He was born in Chile and was a Chilean citizen, so would this one work?

[Liz M]

Amy W wrote: "Can I read a book of poetry? I was thinking The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda. He was born in Chile and was a Chilean citizen, so would this one work?"

Yes!

[Joanna]

Will In the country of men work for Libya (based on setting and nationality)? Wikipedia lists the author as a Libyan author even though he was born in New York and now lives in London.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I have a question about my Australia stop with Justine Labaliester. I checked the spreadsheet and there are 5 stops for Australia and none of them are Sydney. Which one do I go with for the latitude and longitude?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme, I think you mistakenly looked at the Continent column, which is Australasia. There is only one entry for Australia, because they are listed by country capital. Any book that qualifies for an Australia author/location will work.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

You are correct. I read it wrong. I thought Australia was the country and the continent.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "You are correct. I read it wrong. I thought Australia was the country and the continent."

I had thought that for years, too. But if so, I wondered, what continent includes New Zealand? I'm always learning something here!

[Rebekah]

Would this book work for Australia? He's lived all over but now is inSydney and he is known as an "Australian Author"

Never mind!

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Can books include nonfiction?

[Liz M]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Can books include nonfiction?"

Yes. In general, for any task that states "read a book, "book" is assumed to include non-fiction, poetry, plays, short stories, novels, etc. Tasks that require fiction usually state "read a novel or "read a collection of poetry".

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Can books include nonfiction?"

Yes!

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

cool thanks

[Liz M]

Don wrote: "Co-author of this book is from Ecuador the setting of the book. Does this satisfy the challenge for ATW?
The Queen Of Water"

For books with multiple authors, the primary author (first one listed on the cover/title page) will be the one used to determine if the book meets the location requirements. In this case, the primary author does not qualify for Ecuador.

[[deleted user]]

Arggghhh... I put Ngaio Marsh's A Man Lay Dead on my circumnavigator itinerary for New Zealand. I wasn't too disturbed by a large number of Englishmen gathering in a country house, but 80 pages in the butler just caught the 10:15 train to London. I'm guessing this is not set in NZ. I've read one of the later books in the series, and I'm sure Inspector Alleyn gets there eventually, but apparently not yet.

Can I count this for the trip? Ngaio was born and resident of NZ (*sigh* Though looking at her bio it specifically mentions this book being in written in the UK. I seriously just didn't research this one closely thinking I knew where both Ngaio Marsh and Inspector Alleyn were from. Sorry! )

If not, what do I do for the Circumnavigator challenge? Can I choose another book does meet the criteria for New Zealand without updating in the itinerary thread or should I repost there once I've picked a new book. (After I've finished this one because I still need to find out who did it. :) )