Reading with Style discussion

In honor of the 2008 winner, read any book by an author who immigrated. This does not work for those authors like Thackeray, for example, born in India because of father's work, but who then returned to Britain.

Please post any questions/comments about task 20.7 in this thread.

I look forward to seeing any authors you are considering. As I thought about this task, several authors quickly came to mind:

Rohinton Mistry
Isabel Allende
Kazuo Ishiguro
Austin Clarke
José Latour
Georges Simenon
Irène Némirovsky
Jhumpa Lahiri
Salman Rushdie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Joseph Conrad

I'm hoping Pierre Jarawan will fit.

Lagullande wrote: "I'm hoping Pierre Jarawan will fit."

Yes, he does!

Thank you for that short list, Elizabeth, because I would not have immediately thought of Simenon.

Valerie wrote: "Thank you for that short list, Elizabeth, because I would not have immediately thought of Simenon."

I didn't think of him at first either, but he was born in Belgium, lived in France for some years, but ended up in Switzerland for at least the last 20 years of his life. I know that's not moving far, but as he never returned to the country of his birth, he meets the definition of the task.

By the way, Austin Clarke and José Latour (a mystery writer originally from Cuba) are both Canadians, as is Rohinton Mistry.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Thank you for that short list, Elizabeth, because I would not have immediately thought of Simenon."

I didn't think of him at first either, but he was born in Belgium, lived in Fran..."


Yes! A Fine Balance is on my 2022 'hope to read' list - maybe this will be the season!

Valerie wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Thank you for that short list, Elizabeth, because I would not have immediately thought of Simenon."

I didn't think of him at first either, but he was bor..."

I hope it is! It is one of my all time favorite reads.

So far I have:
Marlon James
Omar El Akkad
Emma Donoghue

Henry James USA to UK
P.G. Wodehouse UK to France then USA
Nancy Mitford UK to France
Graham Greene possibly? Left the UK for France and then Switzerland, where he died.
Salman Rushdie India to UK then USA
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Switzerland to France
Uwe Johnson Poland to East Germany then West Germany
Jamaica Kincaid Antigua to USA
Dubravka Ugrešić Croatia to Netherlands

Rosemary wrote: "Henry James USA to UK
P.G. Wodehouse UK to France then USA
Nancy Mitford UK to France
Graham Greene possibly? Left the UK for France and then..."

Your inclusion of Graham Greene surprises me, but I agree that he fits this task. Again, from wikipedia: After falling victim to a financial swindler, Greene chose to leave Britain in 1966, moving to Antibes, .... It is the "leave Britain" part that means we can include him in this task.

Making my way through the tower of paper books (!):

Kathleen Grissom
M G Vassanji
Gary Barwin
Aleksander Hemon
Helen Oyeyemi
Kyo Maclear
Gabriel García Márquez
Vladimir Nabokov
Kevin Chong
Mohsin Hamid
William Gibson
Spider Robinson
Leslie Charteris

and I'm not sure if José Saramago would fall in this category or not.

Valerie wrote: "Making my way through the tower of paper books (!):

Kathleen Grissom"

Makes me think of Geraldine Brooks

Will any of these qualify?

Chester Himes - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester... In 1953, he emigrated to France, and in 1968 moved to Spain, where he lived until his death in 1984.

Patricia Highsmith - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrici...
"Beginning in 1963, she resided exclusively in Europe." She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Margaret Millar - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare...
"She moved to the United States after marrying Kenneth Millar (better known under the pen name Ross Macdonald). They resided for decades in the city of Santa Barbara" She died in Santa Barbara in 1994.

Denise wrote: "Will any of these qualify?

Chester Himes - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester... In 1953, he emigrated to France, and in 1968 moved to Spain, wher..."

Very good! Yes, all of those qualify.

I love that this group can construct at least a partial list of authors who fulfill the requirements of this task.

Denise wrote: "Will any of these qualify?

Chester Himes - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester... In 1953, he emigrated to France, and in 1968 moved to Spain, wher..."

Together with Chester Himes, I recall James Baldwin followed a similar path.

Great! And thank you for listing Georges Simenon.

Joseph Pulitzer himself was an immigrant from Hungary to USA!
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni India to USA
Ha Jin China to USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Jin

Madeleine K. Albright
Trevor Noah
Arnold Schwarzenegger

https://www.bustle.com/p/11-immigrant...
Includes these authors not yet given
Art Spiegelman
Yaa Gyasi
Porochista Khakpour
Donia Bijan
Janine Joseph
Nicole Dennis-Benn
Neel Mukherjee

NoViolet Bulawayo Zimbabwe to US
Roberto Bolaño Chile to Spain
The Inheritance of Loss India to UK to US
William Dalrymple UK to India
Viet Thanh Nguyen Vietnam to US
Khaled Hosseini Afghanistan to US
Yann Martel Spain to Canada
Stefan Zweig Austria-Hungary to Brazil
Joseph Roth Austra-Hungary to France

Yann Martel I think was born to Canadian parents who happened to be in Spain.

Joanna wrote: "Yann Martel I think was born to Canadian parents who happened to be in Spain."

That won't work, then. He was always Canadian, like Thackeray was always always English, but happened to have been born in India.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Thank you for that short list, Elizabeth, because I would not have immediately thought of Simenon."

I didn't think of him at first either, but he was born in Belgium, lived in Fran..."

Actually Austin Clarke was born in Barbados and migrated to Canada so he fits for the task

I think Arthur C. Clarke would qualify -- he immigrated as an adult from England to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_... But maybe not as he remained a British citizen even though he lived the majority of his adult life in Sri Lanka.

Not sure about Isaac Asimov -- he was born in Russia, then immigrated with his parents at the age of 3 from Russia to New York City. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_A... states that He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1928 at the age of eight.

Deedee wrote: "I think Arthur C. Clarke would qualify -- he immigrated as an adult from England to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...

Not sure about Isa..."</i>

Yes, both of those authors would qualify.

Russia to the west also includes [author:Vladimir Nabokov.

Rebekah wrote: "NoViolet Bulawayo Zimbabwe to US
Roberto Bolaño Chile to Spain
The Inheritance of Loss India to UK to US
William Dalrymple UK to India]"

William Dalrymple does not qualify for this task. He may live part time in India, but he has not actually left Scotland full time.

As responded to above, Yann Martell does not qualify for this task.

Found another one! J.M. Coetzee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._C... born in South Africa in 1940, moved to Australia in 2002, became an Australian citizen 2006

Would Robert Seethaler qualify? "an Austrian living in Berlin"

Rosemary wrote: "Would Robert Seethaler qualify? "an Austrian living in Berlin""

Yes. He seems to have moved as far from his birth as did Georges Simenon. ;-)

Please remind us when you post.

A.J. Cronin, born in Scotland, moved to the USA then Switzerland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._C...

Sándor Márai, various European countries then to USA

Stanisław Lem was born in Lviv/Lwow in 1921 when it was in Poland. When it became part of Ukraine in 1945, he and his family moved to Krakow which was and still is in Poland. So he kind of always lived in Poland (except for a few years in Western Europe in the 1980s), but he also moved from Ukraine to Poland. Would that work? :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%...

Rosemary wrote: "Stanisław Lem was born in Lviv/Lwow in 1921 when it was in Poland. When it became part of Ukraine in 1945, he and his family moved to Krakow which was and still is in Poland. So he k..."

As we are definitely attributing Lviv to Ukraine and Krakow will always Poland ... we'll allow him for this task. As usual, remind us when you post.

How about Juliet Marillier? She was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Kim wrote: "How about Juliet Marillier? She was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and lives in Perth, Western Australia."

yes

Tessa Afshar's page says she was born in the Middle East, lived in England, and now lives in USA. Okay for the task?

"Tessa was born in the Middle East and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She then moved to England, where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently."

Owlette wrote: "Tessa Afshar's page says she was born in the Middle East, lived in England, and now lives in USA. Okay for the task?

"Tessa was born in the Middle East and lived there for the fir..."

Yes.

Is the author should still be immigrated as of now ?

I wanted to know if Ruth Ware was fitting, her wikipedia says "She also spent time in Paris, teaching English as a foreign language", but now she's back in the UK.

Thanks :)

Marie wrote: "Is the author should still be immigrated as of now ?

I wanted to know if Ruth Ware was fitting, her wikipedia says "She also spent time in Paris, teaching English as a foreign la..."

No, that wouldn't work. It should be a permanent move.

Arthur C. Clarke

Born in the UK; 'Clarke emigrated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving'; died in Colombo.

Got it!

David Mitchell

Born in the UK, currently lives in Ireland

Joanna wrote: "David Mitchell

Born in the UK, currently lives in Ireland"

Is that a permanent move?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Joanna wrote: "David Mitchell

Born in the UK, currently lives in Ireland"

Is that a permanent move?"

I mean, it's hard to tell from someone who has moved around as much as he has, but he and his wife and children have been living there since 2018. Before that they were in Japan (for the second time).

Mitchell lived in Sicily for a year, then moved to Hiroshima, Japan, where he taught English to technical students for eight years, before returning to England, where he could live on his earnings as a writer and support his pregnant wife. ... After another stint in Japan, Mitchell and his wife, Keiko Yoshida, live in Ardfield, County Cork, Ireland, as of 2018. They have two children."

That's why I asked. This task is about permanent moves away from country of birth. There may be more moves than one. If Mitchell has indicated he doesn't intend to ever return to the UK then he would work for this task.

I think of Simenon as I mentioned above who lived in France for a number of years before living out the last 20 or so years of his life in Switzerland. He left Belgium permanently. I could mention something similar about Vladimir Nabokov, who left Russia for France, then became a US citizen before leaving the US for Switzerland.

There are many such stories. The author doesn't have to have moved from an Eastern country for a Western one as Valerie points out above with Arthur C. Clarke.

I have thought about Donna Leon who has lived the last 25 years in Italy. Still, I'm not convinced that is truly an immigration. She doesn't allow her works to be translated into Italian. ;-)

Regarding Donna Leon, I read that she doesn't allow her books to be translated into Italian because she wants to be treated like any other Venetian. She doesn't want her friends and neighbors to be wondering if her characters are based on real life--which would change her relationships with them. I think she considers Venice her home now. But that beautiful city will certainly be impacted by global warming.

Donna Leon does, indeed, qualify for this task. She now lives in Switzerland, has 2 homes there, and in 2020 she became a Swiss citizen.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Donna Leon does, indeed, qualify for this task. She now lives in Switzerland, has 2 homes there, and in 2020 she became a Swiss citizen."

Wow, she's a busy woman moving among all those homes! Thanks for the updated information.

Thanks for having me look further. I thorough enjoy the Brunetti series. Not sure I'll fit her in this season, but I'm glad to know I'd have a place should I want to.

Will Marina Lewycka qualify?

From Wikipedia
Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_...

Mary wrote: "Will Marina Lewycka qualify?

From Wikipedia
Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in Sheffield, Sou..."

yes!

I'm thinking about reading something by Gertrude Stein.

"Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and made France her home for the remainder of her life." (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrud...)