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Episode 174 When Ficiton Drives Us to Learn More
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Regarding North Korea, a great narrative non-fiction is Nothing to Envy:Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. It follows the lives of 6 North Koreans who defected and is a close look at what life was really like for them in North Korea. Amazing stories of survival. It really opened my eyes to the true hardships they endured and the true evil of Kim Il-sung. I would highly recommend this book!!
I love it when fiction prompts me to do research. For any story that takes place in a non-fiction location, I look up maps and Google street views. Thanks to all of the Scottish mysteries I've read, I can almost draw a map of Glasgow at this point.Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea was a good book, really informative. There was one page I'll just call "the dog part" that I made note of in my review as something you may want to skip over. I still really wish I could have.
Don't laugh but many, many years ago
ignited my interest in the Civil War. I was only in the 6th grade and became obsessed with studying the Civil War because after reading the book I felt like I knew so many who had died in key battles. For years I felt almost insulted when someone would casually refer to a significant battle with no apparent care or interest in the impact it had on the people of the time. 
got me obsessed with Imperial Russia and led me into several years of wonderful additional reading on that topic as well as significantly influencing my opinions on "cultural revolutions."
ignited my love of Renaissance art, Michelangelo, the Medici family and even Italy. Many years and many research books later I've even ended up teaching classes and leading Art/History tours to Italy as a result.Ann, ditto on Elizabeth I. Unfortunately, I had abysmal history teachers in our public school system (coaches were forced to "teach" a subject in order to collect their coach's salary so they were usually put in as history teachers) but I was an avid reader and after reading a wonderful biography on Ann Boleyn (Elizabeth's mother) I consumed every Tudor/Elizabethan England biographical/historical novel I could get my hands on from Jr. High through college and I still enjoy the subject. When standing on Tower Green in London for the first time, I was reciting Ann Boleyn's soliloquy from the play "Ann of the Thousand Days" in my head and got all teary - 25 years AFTER my first reading!
Mod
I'll echo Laura and Vanessa's recommendation of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.
It wasn't fiction, but when I was 8 or 9 I read Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl for the first time and that started me on a lifelong obsession with reading memoirs and other accounts of the Holocaust. I know I read every single Holocaust book in my local library and even today I'm drawn to anything on that topic. In my own small way I guess I want to bear witness and recognize the lives of those who suffered.
It wasn't fiction, but when I was 8 or 9 I read Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl for the first time and that started me on a lifelong obsession with reading memoirs and other accounts of the Holocaust. I know I read every single Holocaust book in my local library and even today I'm drawn to anything on that topic. In my own small way I guess I want to bear witness and recognize the lives of those who suffered.
Suzanne, I did the same thing. I don't think I actually started with Anne Frank, but as a pretty young child I used to eat up any book (fiction and non-fiction) I could find relating to the Holocaust. I still do, but most people are pretty surprised when I mention how young I was when that subject first took hold!
Suzanne wrote: "It wasn't fiction, but when I was 8 or 9 I read Anne Frank's The Diary of a..."</i>Suzanne, ditto on Diary of a Young Girl. Between that and [bookcover:Number the Stars, I became slightly obsessed with reading about the Holocaust in elementary and middle school, and still am fascinated today.
More recently, I have found that the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon has really inspired me to read more about a vast range of topics, from the history of the Jacobites to the American Revolution.
I think that this is why I'm particularly drawn to (well-researched) historical fiction- it always leaves me with lots of questions to which I want to find the answers.
I have a small off shoot of this topic... When Ann brought this up, I didn't think of a book I loved so much it that I started reading non-fiction on the same topic, what I thought of was a book that was so poorly written I went out looking for better info. I couldn't even get through Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" it was so horrible, but the idea it was based on became an obsession. "The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Robert Leigh, and Henry Lincoln was enthralling. It was the first book to suggest that the holy grail was Jesus' blood line. It reads as a mystery and a research paper and anytime someone tells me they found Dan Brown's book interesting, I point them in this direction.
This is a great topic! Devil in the White City completley changed my reading life, and sent me spiriling into a World's Fair obsession that I am still recovering from. I learned so much interesting information from that book and and the research I did into the World's Fair and Chicago after finishing the book.
Since then, I gravitate towards historical fiction often. Alice I Have Been was another fascinating read for me, I enjoyed looking into the life of the real Alice Liddle.
The Paris Wifealso sparked a lot of interest into further reading about Hemingway.
Shannon wrote: "This is a great topic!
Devil in the White City completley changed my reading life, and sent me spiriling into a World's Fair obsession that I am still recovering from. I learned so much inter..."
The Paris Wife had that effect on me too!
Devil in the White City completley changed my reading life, and sent me spiriling into a World's Fair obsession that I am still recovering from. I learned so much inter..."
The Paris Wife had that effect on me too!
I happened to read a number of novels set during WWII: "Guernsey Literary Society," "The Book Thief," "Madonnas of Leningrad" etc. which prompted me to a personal challenge of trying to read a memoir or novel (no military history) set in each country involved in WWII. For example, "The Invisible Bridge" was my book for Hungary; "Number the Stars" for Denmark; "Unbroken" for Pacific theatre POWs. "Journal of Helene Berr" for France; "A Train in Winter" about French women resistance workers. Even found one set in Estonia ("Purge"), if you can believe it. Currently, I'm reading Madeleine Albright's memoir "Prague Winter." (Thank you FirstReads!)Can you help me? I am still looking for WWII books set in Norway, Finland and the Pacific countries. The reading is hard at times because of the suffering involved. But I am also inspired by the courage and endurance of ordinary citizens.
Readnponder wrote: "I happened to read a number of novels set during WWII: "Guernsey Literary Society," "The Book Thief," "Madonnas of Leningrad" etc. which prompted me to a personal challenge of trying to read a memo..."
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute is partially set in Malaysia during World War II and it is fantastic.
Another good one for Denmark is Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig.
What a great project. Good luck.
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute is partially set in Malaysia during World War II and it is fantastic.
Another good one for Denmark is Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig.
What a great project. Good luck.
there was a book i read on a whim called
based on the first women in baseball. although there are liberties taken here, i felt compelled to research the real women's league. good stuff.i read a good cross of fiction and non-fiction, but one book that stands out as a book to seek out other topics is
. naslund makes reference to writers and activists of the time and it has made me curious to read more by these people or learn more about this time period (1800's).
This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but Joe Nesbo's "Redbreast" is a crime novel that is set in both present day and World War II Norway. It flashes back and forth.
Yes, like WingedBeaver said--The Redbreast is a mystery novel but there are a lot of flashbacks to Norway during WWII and I learned a lot about how and why divided Norway was during the war and I understand much better why a Nazi-fetishing undercurrent persists there today. Plus, Jo Nesbo is one of the top Scandinavian mystery writers. Speaking of Norway, John Steinbeck wrote The Moon is Down during WWII at the behest of the US government about an unnamed country (clearly Norway) being invaded by a fascist army (clearly Germany) who treats the citizens fairly well at first but the locals just don't want them there and things go downhill. It's devastating but it's brilliant too and kind of weirdly uplifting.
it's not the right country, but another one you might consider Readnponder is Between Shades of Gray.
Readnponder,I second Suzanne's recommendation for Nevile Shute's A Town Like Alice which I also loved.
Another one you might like to consider is James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific which won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize and is touted as,"Truly one of the most remarkable books to come out of the war."
@Readandponder, A little out of the area but here's a WWII story set in Poland and a fantastic read, although difficult as expected: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel.
Elizabeth wrote: "it's not the right country, but another one you might consider Readnponder is Between Shades of Gray."This was one I rated highly too, and recommend.
@Readandponder, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption is another fantastic read if you haven't yet read it based in the Pacific during WWII.
@ReadnPonder, I'm not sure if he has a book set in Norway, buut Alan Furst has written the Night Shades series (more of a collection) of books set in Europe just prior and during WWII. The books are based in different countries and involve spies and resistance workers -- sometimes characters may reappear but it's not necessary to read in order.
I definitely related to Ann when she said that readers might just have a higher curiosity. Like many of you, I love historical fiction and have at various times been obsessed with Josephine (The Josephine Bonaparte Collection: The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and the Last Great Dance on Ear), Eleanor of Aquitaine (Devil's Brood) and Egypt (River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt), not to mention a life-long love of Arthurian tales that started when I checked out The Crystal Cave from the library when I was in high school.The one book that has probably stirred the most additional reading and impacted me personally is The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Suzanne wrote: "I'll echo Laura and Vanessa's recommendation of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It wasn't fiction, but when I was 8 or 9 I read Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl for the f..."
Suzanne, that pretty much sums my experience up too. I remember it being a big deal to me when Schindler's List came out when I was in 8th grade. I wanted to see the movie, but my parents wouldn't let me see R rated movies. So, I read the book. Wow.
To me, reading fiction is a search for understanding, be it other people, other experiences, other cultures, other worlds. Occasionally a novel will stoke my curiosity and I will find myself on a subsequent search for knowledge. Often it starts with Googling an historical event or figure, a literary reference, a name, or just broadly, an era. Sometimes I will seek out more reading, but I as frequently turn to more fiction set in a place or time as I do to straight non-fiction. Essentially, reading is my self-perpetuating, infinite education.
Katherine by Anya Seton was the beginning for me of a life-long love affair with British history and British writers. After visiting London, I became fascinated with "The Knowledge", a course required to become a licensed London cabbie. I keep an "Ordnance Survey Street Atlas" of London nearby whenever I read a book or story set in London. In another life, I would be a London cabbie.
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
River God (other topics)Devil's Brood (other topics)
The Josephine Bonaparte Collection: The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and the Last Great Dance on Earth (other topics)
The Crystal Cave (other topics)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (other topics)
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There is a new book out, Right Here I See My Own Books: The Woman’s Building Library at the World’s Columbian Exposition (University of Massachusetts Press, 2012) and an article in American Libraries,
Women in the White City
I hope to read this.