Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Travel challenge 2015

-starting point: Finland

93/80 books

Regions:

NORTH AMERICA

The Great Gatsby (2.1.15) -> Long Island & New York
Haunted on Bourbon Street (16.1.15) -> Louisiana
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1.3.15) -> St.Petersburg, Florida
Looking for Alaska (17.3.15) -> Alabama
Lolita (27.3.15) -> all over
Gone with the Wind (5.4.15) -> Georgia & Atlanta
The Age of Innocence (19.4.15) -> New York
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (6.5.15) -> Tarrytown, New York
Shades of Honor (7.5.15) -> New York
The Lightning Thief (15.5.15) -> all around
The Princess Bride (23.6.15)
Interview with the Vampire (25.7.15) -> New Orleans (also Paris)
Brokeback Mountain (26.7.15) -> Wyoming & Texas
The Seeing Stone (11.8.15)
Lucinda's Secret (11.8.15)
The Ironwood Tree (16.8.15)
Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: The Circle (22.8.15)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (17.9.15) -> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Selected Stories, 1968-1994 (24.9.15)
The Lost Days (25.9.15)
The Shipping News (23.10.15) -> Canada
The Red Pony (6.11.15) -> California
Silver Storm (23.11.15) -> New London, Virginia
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -> New York


THE CARIBBEAN

Robinson Crusoe (10.12.15)

LATIN AMERICA

Love in the Time of Cholera (7.2.15) -> Colombia

EUROPE

The Year of the Hare (3.1.15) -> Finland
The Thirteenth Tale (6.1.15) -> England
Crime and Punishment (17.1.15) -> Russia
The Reader (18.1.15) -> Germany
Heikosti Positiivinen (21.1.15) -> Finland
David Copperfield (31.1.15) -> England
Kalle Blomquist (31.1.15) -> Sweden
Isä ja poika (13.2.15) -> Finland
Phantom (5.3.15) -> Norway
Mrs. Dalloway (7.3.15) -> England, London
Puhdistus (8.3.15) -> Estonia
Girl With a Pearl Earring (11.3.15) -> Holland, Delft
The Scarlet Pimpernel (21.3.15) -> England & France
The Casual Vacancy (23.3.15) -> England
The Unbearable Lightness of Being(20.4.15) -> Czech Republic
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall(27.4.15) -> Yorkshire,England
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils(28.4.15) -> Sweden
Police(3.5.15) -> Oslo, Norway
The Dream of Scipio (27.5.15)-> France
Rebecca (7.6.15) -> England
Justine (10.6.15) -> France
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (16.6.15) -> England
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (30.6.15) -> France, Paris
Beauty and the Beast (1.7.15) -> France
The Importance of Being Earnest (2.7.15) -> England
Foucault's Pendulum (24.7.15) -> Italy & France
Azuri Fae (5.8.15) -> Scotland
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (10.8.15)-> England (some Spain and Venice)
Metsäjätti (15.8.15) -> Finland
Susanin vaikutus (17.8.15) -> Denmark
Herra Darwinin puutarhuri (21.8.15) -> Finland
Persuasion (23.8.15) -> England
Täällä Pohjantähden alla 1–3 (29.8.15) -> Finland
Sudenmorsian (30.8.15) -> Estonia
Madame Bovary (5.9.15) -> France
Constable On The Hill (9.9.15) -> England
Rajoilla (13.9.15) -> Finland
The Time Machine (17.9.15) -> England
Shrieking Face (20.9.15) -> England
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding: Hercule Poirot (27.9.15) -> England
A Heartless Design (28.9.15) -> England, France
Kristin Lavransdatter (5.10.15) -> Norway
The Prisoner of Heaven (7.10.15) -> Spain
Révélations (7.10.15) -> Vatican
Mary Poppins (10.10.15) -> England
The Wife (18.10.15) -> Norway
Tänään on loppuelämäsi viimeinen päivä (20.10.15) -> Austria, Italy
Kuolema Ehtoolehdossa (21.10.15) -> Finland
The Complete Maus (23.10.15) -> Poland
A Farewell to Arms (26.10.15) -> Italy
Vetää kaikista ovista (30.10.15) -> Finland
As Red as Blood (31.10.15) -> Finland
Cold Comfort Farm (4.11.15) -> England
Enter the Brethren (7.11.15) -> England
Animal Farm (12.11.15) -> England
Kristin Lavransdatter 3: The Cross (19.11.15) -> Norway
As White as Snow (20.11.15) -> Czech republic
Pessi ja Illusia (29.11.15) -> Finland
Saniaislehdon salaisuudet (12.12.2015) -> Finland


AFRICA

Things Fall Apart(15.9.15) -> Nigeria

THE MIDDLE EAST

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (18.7.15) -> Iran
Luumukanaa (26.7.15) -> Iran
Pride of Baghdad (13.8.15) -> Irak, Baghdad
Habibi (1.11.15)

ASIA

Snow Country (19.9.15)
Inspector Zhang Gets His Wish (6.11.15)

OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA

The Rosie Project (5.11.15)

Have a fabulous world tour!

Thank you :) This really sounds like fun!

So starts my journey from Finland with The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna. The main character in this book travels all around Finland from south to north (and also little detour in Russia) with a hare.

My second travel destination was England. I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. The whole book was set in England in different time periods (and the author is from there as well).

Almost forgot. My second destination was Long Island and New York with The Great Gatsby. After that I went to England. :)

From England back to USA, Louisiana (Bourbon Street) with Haunted on Bourbon Street written by Deanna Chase. Not my favourite book but managed to get through.

Next stop: Russia (St.Petersburg). I read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I classify this as Europe region, since St.Petersburg is in that side of Russia.

From Russia I took a train to Germany. I visited different cities and places with The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.

From Germany back home to Finland for a change. I read about difficulties with having a baby; Heikosti Positiivinen which is strongly based on the writer´s own experiences.

Time to go to historical England again with David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Visiting London and the countryside with detailed description.

And from England in the same day still to Sweden with; Kalle Blomquist by Astrid Lindgren. Nice 3 book set about Master Detective Kalle Blomqvist.

Time for my first visit to Latin America with Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. Some say this book could have been set in anywhere in the Caribbean and some say that it´s situated in Colombia. I decided to believe wiki and situate it in Colombia.

Time to go home, Finland: Isä ja poika by Jörn Donner. This book won the Finlandia-prize 1985.

Time for historical North America. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in St.Petersburg, Florida.

My next adventure was set in Oslo, Norway. It was the ninth Harry Hole book: Phantom.

One day in England, London: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Wasn´t my cup of tea.

I read finnish writer Sofi Oksanen´s Puhdistus about Estonia´s past in war time through three generations. Very good book, which won the Finlandia-prize 2008.

From Estonia to Holland and historical Delft: Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.

Been around Europe for awhile, so time to go North America and Alabama for a while with Looking for Alaska by John Green. I really liked this one!

Back to Europe and in England & France during the french revolution; The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy

My next read was the disturbing Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Interesting read.

All time love story settled in Georgia and Atlanta: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Keeping in North America with The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

Back to Europe with Czech classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

I can see that I´m really reading only books from two regions...

From my classic reading list; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. DIdn´t like it that much.

Next stop our neighbour country Sweden with The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf.

From Sweden to Norway with my favorite police Harry Hole: Police by Jo Nesbø.

I really do read only books from Europe or North America!
This time back to New York; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

Stayed in historical New York; Shades of Honor by Wendy Lindstrom!

Desertorum wrote: "I really do read only books from Europe or North America!"

And mainly from Northern Europe at that... :-) I have made a list of books divided by the country based on the 1001 books list and chosen a couple of books/authors to represent different countries, mainly those that have been translated to Finnish. I could give it to you if you want.

Tytti wrote: "Desertorum wrote: "I really do read only books from Europe or North America!"

And mainly from Northern Europe at that... :-) I have made a list of books divided by the country based on the 1001 bo..."

Yes, that is true! And I would be happy to have the list. Even though I have too long TBR-list ;)

Well here's Asia, unfortunately there are not that many of them:


Keski-Aasia:
Kazakstan
Kirgisia
Tadžikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Itä-Aasia:
Japani Haruki Murakami, Aaltojen pauhu, Vaitiolo
Kiina Raskaat siivet, Villijoutsenet – Kolmen kiinattaren tarina, Rickshaw Boy (Rikšapoika 1948)
Kiinan tasavalta (Taiwan)
Korean demokraattinen kansantasavalta
Korean tasavalta Land
Mongolia

Kaakkois-Aasia:
Brunei
Filippiinit
Indonesia
Itä-Timor
Kambodža
Laos
Malesia
Myanmar
Singapore
Thaimaa
Vietnam Paradise of the Blind

Etelä-Aasia:
Afganistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Intia Keskiyön lapset, Valkoinen tiikeri
Malediivit
Nepal
Pakistan Fundamentalisti vastoin tahtoaan
Sri Lanka

Länsi-Aasia eli Lähi-itä:
Yhdistyneet arabiemiirikunnat
Armenia Vihreä hattu
Azerbaidžan
Bahrain
Georgia
Irak
Iran Sokea pöllö
Israel Tarina rakkaudesta ja pimeydestä
Jemen
Jordania
Kuwait
Kypros
Libanon
Oman
Qatar
Saudi-Arabia
Syyria
Turkki Lumi Orhan Pamuk (Nobel)

Oseania is not much better:


Australia Oscar ja Lucinda
Fidži
Kiribati
Marshallinsaaret
Mikronesia
Nauru
Palau
Papua-Uusi-Guinea
Salomonsaaret
Samoa
Tonga
Tuvalu
Uusi-Seelanti Puutarhakutsut
Vanuatu

Africa is maybe a bit better:


Itä-Afrikka:
Burundi
Komorit
Djibouti
Eritrea
Etelä-Sudan
Etiopia The New World Heruy Wäldä-Sellassé
Kenia Petals of Blood Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Madagaskar
Malawi
Mauritius
Mosambik
Ruanda
Seychellit
Somalia
Tansania
Uganda
Sambia

Keskinen Afrikka:
Angola
Kamerun
Keski-Afrikan tasavalta
Tšad
Kongon tasavalta
Kongon demokraattinen tasavalta
Päiväntasaajan Guinea
Gabon
São Tomé ja Príncipe

Pohjois-Afrikka:
Algeria
Egypti Midaqq-kuja
Egypti
Libya
Marokko
Sudan Season of Migration to the North Tayeb Salih
Tunisia
Länsi-Sahara (Länsi-Saharan asema on kiistanalainen.)

Etelä-Afrikka:
Botswana
Lesotho
Zimbabwe Tambu
Namibia
Etelä-Afrikka J.M. Coetzee (Nobel), Nadine Gordimer (Nobel)
Swazimaa

Länsi-Afrikka:
Benin
Burkina Faso
Kap Verde
Norsunluurannikko
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea The Dark Child Camara Laye
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria Puolikas keltaista aurinkoa
Senegal Jumalan puupalikat
Sierra Leone
Togo

North America:


Pohjois-Amerikka:
Kanada Sokea surmaaja, Kerjäläistyttö: Tarinoita Flosta ja Rosesta Alice Munro (Nobel)
Meksiko Tulta alhaalta, Klingsoria etsimässä
Yhdysvallat Saul Bellow (Nobel), William Faulkner (Nobel), Toni Morrison (Nobel) Ernest Hemingway (Nobel), John Steinbeck (Nobel)

Karibian maat:
Antigua ja Barbuda
Saint Vincent ja Grenadiinit
Trinidad ja Tobago V.S. Naipaul (Nobel)
Jamaika
Kuuba Likainen Havanna-trilogia
Saint Kitts ja Nevis
Saint Lucia
Bahama
Barbados
Dominica Jean Rhys Kvartetti
Dominikaaninen tasavalta
Grenada
Haiti The Kingdom of This World Alejo Carpentier

Keski-Amerikka:
Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama

South America:


Argentiina Hämähäkkinaisen suudelma
Bolivia
Brasilia Jorge Amado Gabriela, kanelia ja neilikkaa
Chile Henkien talo
Ecuador
Guyana Disappearance
Kolumbia Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez (Nobel) Sadan vuoden yksinäisyys, Rakkautta koleran aikaan
Paraguay
Peru Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel) Vuohen juhla
Suriname
Uruguay El astillero Juan Carlos Onetti
Venezuela

And here's Europe. Maybe you'll find some interesting books from "smaller" countries:


Etelä-Eurooppa:
Albania Seuraaja Ismail Kadare
Andorra -
Bosnia ja Hertsegovina Ivo Andrić (Nobel)
Bulgaria Ikeen alla
Espanja Don Quijote
Italia Ruusun nimi, Keskipäivän aave, Tiikerikissa
Kosovo -
Kreikka Kerro minulle, Zorbas
Kroatia Filip Latinoviczin paluu
Makedonia -
Malta -
Monaco -
Montenegro Puutarha, tuhka
Portugali José Saramago (Nobel)
Romania Hirtettyjen metsä
San Marino -
Serbia Dictionary of the Khazars
Vatikaani -

Itä-Eurooppa:
Moldova -
Ukraina S.Y. Agnon (Nobel), Ranskalainen sarja
Valko-Venäjä -
Venäjä Anna Karenina

Länsi-Eurooppa:
Alankomaat Max Havelaar, Kaksoset
Belgia Juusto, Belgian suru
Britannia/Englanti Charles Dickens
Skotlanti Ivanhoe
Irlanti Samuel Beckett (Nobel)...
Luxemburg -
Ranska Honoré de Balzac, Émile Zola, Kurjat, Monte-Criston kreivi, Punainen ja musta

Keski-Eurooppa:
Itävalta Radetzky-marssi, Thomas Bernhard, Stefan Zweig
Liechtenstein -
Puola Quo vadis - kertomus Neron ajoilta Henryk Sienkiewicz (Nobel), Isaac Bashevis Singer (Nobel)
Saksa Nuoren Wertherin kärsimykset, Heinrich Böll (Nobel), Peltirumpu Günter Grass (Nobel), Buddenbrookit Thomas Mann (Nobel)
Slovakia -
Slovenia Alamut
Sveitsi Tuomari ja hänen pyövelinsä, Hermann Hesse (Nobel), I'm Not Stiller (Minä en ole Stiller)
Tšekki Kunnon sotamies Švejk maailmansodassa, Oikeusjuttu Franz Kafka, Olemisen sietämätön keveys Milan Kundera
Unkari Kohtalottomuus Imre Kertész (Nobel)

Pohjois-Eurooppa:
Islanti Läpi harmaan kiven Halldór Laxness (Nobel)
Latvia -
Liettua -
Norja Maan siunaus Knut Hamsun (Nobel)
Ruotsi Hemsöläiset, Selma Lagerlöf (Nobel), Barabbas Pär Lagerkvist (Nobel)
Suomi Tuntematon sotilas
Tanska Lumen taju
Viro Professori Martensin lähtö

Well consider yourself spammed. :-)

I copied the whole country lists, maybe they will come handy. Of course some of the books are based on my personal tastes (or are books that I happen to have) but I tried to pick books that tell something about the country, are their classics, and usually they are some of the shorter ones... But I did find some interesting books that I have never heard of and many can be found from the Yellow Library. If an author had many books on the list (or they are not translated) or they had won Nobel, I just added the author.

Thank you so much! So many that I haven´t read! But couple that I have. I love Ruusun nimi, Ivanhoe, Kurjat, Monte Criston kreivi and Lumen taju. Tuntematon sotilas was also very good. I also liked Murakami´s Norwegian Wood (but I´ve heard it´s different from his other works). I think I should try Endo. I´ve read Anna Karenina which I liked and Crime and Punishment, which I didn´t. I think War and Peace is still waiting :/ David Copperfield I read this year and it wasn´t my favourite but definitely going to try something else from him (maybe Two Cities). Hemingway I didn´t like at all! Lagerlöf was a bit boring. Also didn´t fancy Olemisen sietämätön keveys, Llosa´s Tuhma tyttö or Marquez (Sadan vuoden yksinäisyys ja Rakkautta koleran aikaan). But Steinbeck is great, I have read couple but Grapes of Wrath is still waiting.
I´m really waiting to get to read Don Quixote. Laxness sounds interesting too.

I think there was enough finnish and english mixed :D

I didn't really pay attention to the "bigger" literature countries because everyone knows those names and there were over 350 books from England and over 260 from USA, so I only added something to mark that they have counted already. There are actually four books from Finland, too, one of them Manillaköysi but no Sinuhe..?

But I think Juusto from Belgium might be funny, though Belgian suru is "the" classic. And the books are mainly divided by the origin/ethnicity of the author, so for example Vihreä Hattu is set in Europe but unfortunately there are not that many books from Armenia translated. Btw, it has similar themes than in Suuri illusioni. But anyway, it can serve as a starting place.

My next stop was in North America, again. Children´s literature but entertaining; The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

France in different times: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears

Mystery set in England; Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

And back to France again with Marquis de Sade and Justine. Not my cup of tea.

England…and Willy Wonka´s factory; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

IN this book the narrator is probably somewhere in NA but the "story" part is in made up country; The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

A lot happens in France, this time it´s a brutal murder; The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe.

An other short story from France (or at least I think it´s situated in there); Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

And back to my other favorite country; The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Fun short read!