The Next Best Book Club discussion
Fun and Games
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A Trip Round the World
ENGLAND (well, I had to start with home)
Behind the Scenes at the Museum (Kate Atkinson) - The story starts with the conception of Ruby Lennox in a drunken fumble with her parents in their House Above the Shop in York. Ruby narrates even before her birth and sets the scene with her family - a very disfunctional one at that. The first page had me laughing out loud and it only gets better from there.
RussiaGorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith -- This is a super book! I saw the movie and wasn't impressed then read it for a book club. I can read it over and over and over...
A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and New York police as he performs the impossible--and tries to stay alive doing it. (from GR)
FranceThe Age of Reason by Jean Paul Sartre
L'âge de raison (The Age of Reason) is a 1945 novel by Jean Paul Sartre. It is the first part of the trilogy Les chemins de la liberté (The Roads to Freedom). The novel, set against the background of the bohemian Paris of the late 1930s, focuses around three days in the life of a philosophy teacher named Mathieu who is seeking to find the money to pay for an abortion for his mistress, Marcelle. In these three days, the motives of various characters and their actions are analyzed and the perceptions and observations of others are taken in account to give the reader a comprehensive picture of the main character.
South AfricaThe Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
This was an amazing story that touched me deeply. It is rare that a book will make me cry once, much less several times.
It is much easier for me to copy what Goodreads has to say about it than I can articulate...
Set in a world torn apart, where man enslaves his fellow man and freedom remains elusive, THE POWER OF ONE is the moving story of one young man's search for the love that binds friends, the passion that binds lovers, and the realization that it takes only one to change the world. A weak and friendless boy growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two older men, one black and one white, to show him how to find the courage to dream, to succeed, to triumph over a world when all seems lost, and to inspire him to summon up the most irrersistible force of all: the Power of One.
Persia or what is known now as IranThe Blood of Flowers - takes place in 17th century...it's a fascinating story of a young girl whose life changes drastically when her father dies and she is left without a dowry...she and her mother are forced to leave their town to go and live as servants in her uncles home...the story is about how different our lives can turn out than what we expected and overcoming hardships.
ooh... Boof... great idea! I'll be taking lots of ideas from this thread. Can't contribute though, as I haven't read much fiction from other countries.
WalesCandlenight by Phil Rickman, this is set in a rural village in wales and is a rather creepy book, I've not finished reading it yet but so far it looks at village traditions and rituals, it also shows how reluctant small, rural villages are to allow stranger to join their villages. Definitely a interesting read so far.
India Song of Kali its about a man his wife and child who goes to Calcutta for a manuscript of poetry and finds a dirty ,desolate and poverty stricken place with customs that seem bizzare and discovers a conspiracy and loses part of himself!
Egypt - Map of Love by Ahdaf SoueifThis was an awesome story told in part during modern times and part during Egypt's struggle for independence. It's an amazing love story, amazing historical fiction and a good bit of action. Sometimes it was hard to follow because the names are so different from what I am accustomed to, but it was well worth it.
PAKISTAN- Broken Verses by Kamila ShamsieThis book tells the story of Aasmaani, the daughter of a long-disappeared feminist political firebrand who is haunted by her mother's past. Her mother was an ardent follower of a Poet, Nazim, whose work highlighted the injustices and excesses of post-partition Pakistan and even followed him into exile when the threats against his life grew too severe.
Twenty years later, Aasmaani is now working at a cable television network when she meets a former friend of her mothers who passes her an anonymous letter written in a code known only to the Poet and her mother. As she laboriously translates the letters it becomes clear that the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance is deeper than expected.
Along with this gripping story of a woman's search for her lost mother is a fantastic retelling of Pakistan's half century of self-governance that helps shed some light on the current state of affairs, particularly in regard to the rise of militant fundamentalism.
Mod
Journey to the Center of the Earth- Jules Verne
A professor and his Nephew head to Iceland after finding a secret letter that will lead them into the center of the earth. Great stuff in here.... The movie was pretty good, tho the book blew it away!
AZERBAIJAN- Ali & Nino by Kurban SaidA novel that seamlessly reflects all the disparate ethnic identities in this nation that has melded the dueling philosophies of East and West for centuries. Retelling the love between Ali, an Azerbaijani muslim, and Nino, a Georgian Christian. Said posits their love as a struggle between the reactionary East and the progressive West, a struggle as vital then as it is today.
Possibly even more interesting than the above book is the story of Kurban Said. A pseudonym taken by the Azerbaijani Jew Lev Nussinbaum after fleeing the Russian Revolution into the middle of Nazi Germany, Kurban Said (also known as Essad Bey) created himself anew in the guise of a muslim prince who moved in the highest circles of the Axis powers- at one point Bey even penned a biography on Mussolini. If you're interested in a more in depth look at the life of this human chameleon, I'd recommend reading The Orientalist by Tom Reiss.
ITALYThe Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
This is one of my favorite reads and is one of the books that started my obsession with historical fiction.
The Birth of Venus takes place in Florence, Italy in the 15th century during the Medici era amongst religious politics. It's the story of a young girl, with ambitions to be a painter, whom after being married off to an older man with "conflicting interests" is allowed her own freedoms...changing her innocence into self-awareness & reality.
ColumbiaLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I always like a good romance.
In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermino Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again. (per GR)
Canada the Outlander by Gil Adamson
A widow is chased into the wilds of Alberta by 2 vengeful brothers,for murdering her husband,their brother.She meets many characters along the way that adds an interesting element to the story.Adamson is a good storyteller and I really enjoyed reading this book by this Canadian author.Adamson writes poetry as well and it certainly shows in the imagery of her writing.
THE CZECH REPUBLIC- The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary ShteyngartI can think of no other book that I've read that so perfectly captures the mid-90s expatriate scene in Prague. The free market had just come on the scene and the Czechs were just beginning to get used to the idea of consumption as a way of life. Very much a Wild West/Anything Goes sort of atmosphere that Shteyngart brings to life through the misadventures of his hero, Vladimir Girshkin. Fantastic satire that should be read by everyone.
Japan- the Memoirs of a Geisha. I think this book captured a lot of the era and while I lived there I loved searching for the beautiful geisha makeup boxes like the special one she had. Also seen in the movie. I could imagine her and her life as I walked through the small villages and seeing the modern day Geishas walking the street with all their traditional ware. This is an ultimate love story and very historically accurate. The characters are addictive and the love story very moving.
GreeceMy Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
It's been a long time since I've read this, but did it ever make me laugh. Such a light easy read. The author talks about his 5 years spent in Greece with his family. Worth reading if you want a laugh.
Mod
Mod
And Im getting quite a geography lesson here... Ive never heard of some of these places (hangs head in shame)
I was all set to butt in on Boof's discussion with books set in Illinois and Michigan. Oh, now I have one for Massachusetts. Stop me.....please! Great idea, Ken! Bring it! :)
JAPAN- Shogun by James ClavellA rousing tale of a Dutch navigator who washes ashore in 17th Century Japan and proceeds to become caught up in the strife and war that would usher in the Tokugawa era. This book really has it all: intrigue, diplomacy, romance, tragedy, internecine warfare, and NINJAS. Who can resist a book with all of that?
If you like this book I would recommend reading Samurai William, which tells the true story of the "Anjin" that Shogun is based on. Still thrilling and compelling, but sadly no ninjas.
Dangit, didn't see that Japan had already been done. Okay, how about this:SOUTH KOREA- War Trash by Ha Jin
An amazing novel chronicling the experiences of Chinese soldiers held in U.S. POW camps during the Korean War. In 1951 Yu Yuan, a scholarly and self-effacing clerical officer in Mao’s “volunteer” army, is taken prisoner south of the 38th Parallel. Because he speaks English, he soon becomes an intermediary between his compatriots and their American captors. With Yuan as guide, we are ushered into the secret world behind the barbed wire, a world where kindness alternates with blinding cruelty and one has infinitely more to fear from one’s fellow prisoners than from the guards.
-from the book description
Can't believe this hasn't been done yet...AFGHANISTAN
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, brought together by unfortunate circumstances in war-torn Afghanistan. Their bond is truly heartwarming and completely incredible, unbreakable. The sacrifices of Mariam and Laila are selfless and painful. I could not help but get choked up by the terrible conditions and situations they were faced with...especially those brought on by the evil Rasheed.
IRELAND
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir.
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir.
GERMANYDer Schwarm by Frank Schätzing
English edition is also available
The Swarm by Frank Schätzing
It's a great book about of the rebellion of global nature against mankind. A breathtaking description of a global disaster scenario between Norway, Canada, Japan and Germany. The book is full of psychological and political dramas with a breathtaking conclusion.
A film adaption is in progress. Estimated release date: End of 2010
SwitzerlandFrankenstien. All though, it does take place in other countries, the hart takes place in Genva Switzerland. So good.
Great Thread.I'm going hit a few here....
Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Holland...
All of these countries were places where Ayaan Hirsi Ali lived when she was growing up.
If you haven't had the opportunity to read this, it is EYE OPENING. I was totally moved by this book.
I would love to meet this woman and shake her hand!!
OKSorry I broke a rule
I was suppose to name only one country.
I couldn't really with this one...
Please forgive me
HUNGARYThe Wild Rose by Doris Mortman
It's Chick-lit, but one that I really enjoyed. The wild rose is Katalin, the daughter of a famous Hungarian violinist, who carries on the family name by winning the Salzburg competition and earning a scholarship to Juilliard. In New York she reconnoiters with handsome young Steven Kardos, a hero in the Children's Army during the l953 uprising, then American immigrant and Vietnam Green Beret. But their hot young love gets nipped in the bud when Katalin's called back to Budapest to attend to her ailing mother. So Katalin plays behind the Iron Curtain, dallies with dissidents and gypsies, and marries the Communist hard-liner Major Laszlo Bohm. Meanwhile, Steven goes to law school, weds the dauntlessly wicked Cynthia Rhinehart, and heads to Washington as a congressman. Of course, their paths cross again, at a Kennedy Center concert (with Bernstein conducting, no less), leading Steven to maneuver himself into the Hungarian ambassadorship--from which post he plots the overthrow of Bohm and the long-delayed attainment of Katalin.
Italy - Gardens of Delight by Erica JamesHelen's life has recently undergone a dramatic change. No longer a single independent woman struggling to make ends meet, she's now married to a wealthy charismatic man. But with a manipulative stepdaughter to cope with, it's no bed of roses. So when she gets the chance to go to Italy - to see some of Lake Como's finest gardens - she doesn't hesitate.
Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. Still mourning the tragic loss of his wife, he only signs up for the trip to Italy to please his elderly uncle. Before long he has to admit his motives aren't entirely unselfish.
The last place Lucy wants to visit is Lake Como. And with good reason; this is where her father lives and she hasn't seen him since she was a teenager.
Yet by the time they return home, nothing will be the same again for them.
AUSTRALIAIn a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
oh Tisha, bad bad bad girl ... you took my Italy:-))))
BELGIUMThe Sorrow of Belgium by Victor Hugo
It tells the story of the childhood and youth of Louis Seynaeve (Claus's alter ego) in the Flemish village of Walle (a part of Kortrijk) from 1939 to 1947, coinciding with the period Second World War, the German occupation of Belgium, and its aftermath.
USANotes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson
Mein Amerika, Dein Amerika by Tom Buhrow and Sabine Stamer
Both books give us non-americans a better look into the american way of life.
IRELANDTwo books I enjoyed were:
Ireland by Frank Delaney
and
The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford
CANADAAnne of Green Gables
A red headed spirited orphan of immense imagination is adopted by an older brother and sister to help with chores at their home in Prince Edward Island. One of the funniest most heart warming stories ever written.
Val, Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books from my childhood! I just love Anne.RUSSIA
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Spain- Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Spain Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Barcelona, 1945—A great world city lies shrouded in secrets after the war, and a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in his love for an extraordinary book called The Shadow of the Wind, by an author named Julian Carax. When the boy searches for Carax’s other books, it begins to dawn on him, to his horror, that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book the man has ever written. Soon the boy realizes that The Shadow of the Wind is as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget, for the mystery of its author’s identity holds the key to an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love that someone will go to any lengths to keep secret.
PolandWhen God Looked the Other Way: An Odyssey of War, Exile, and Redemption, by Wesley Adamczyk
This beautifully written memoir of World War II told from the perspective of a child is thought-provoking, disturbing, captivating and unforgettable.
JapanUndergroundby Haruki Murakami
I love his fiction (esp. Wind-Up Bird...) but this was really good. Strangely (maybe only to me), I read this just around the time of 9/11, when I was living in South America. Being an American so geographically removed from such a horrible act of terrorism, reading a book by a somewhat ex-pat Japanese author trying to understand a horrible act of terrorism in his home country...it really resonated with me.
IRELANDPatrick: Son of Ireland
By: Stephen Lawhead
Really good read...
CorsicaDream Hunters of Corsica, Dorothy Carrington.
Pretty decent non-fiction book about the culture and beliefs of Corsicans written by a British woman who lived in Corsica for many years. Because she was not a native of Corsica it's interesting to see a British woman's point of view of a largely unknown foreign country.
CHINA(can't believe no one has mentioned China)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan A Novel
The book starts with life as presented to young girls with the process of foot binding, the aim to get the most perfect foot possible as that allows the young girl to have the best marriage contracted for her. But the book is really about the friendship between women in a truly patriarchal society (pre-Japanese war, pre-communist) and how a long distance friendship, over a long time period, might be carried out. This book is a gift.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "CHINA(can't believe no one has mentioned China)
[b:Snow Flower and the Secret Fan A Novel|1103|Snow Flower and the Secret Fan A Novel|Lisa See|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157......"
It is very beautiful and interesting this one, but still to be seen as a pure fiction i think. But it is written nicely.
Well, yes, fiction. However, it was well-researched and I think the foot binding, the war stuff, and the patriarchal society are based in historical fact. So may be the women's writing/alphabet.
NewfoundlandThe Shipping News A Novel Annie Proulx
"In this touching and atmospheric novel set among the fishermen of Newfoundland, Proulx tells the story of Quoyle. From all outward appearances, Quoyle has gone through his first 36 years on earth as a big schlump of a loser. He's not attractive, he's not brilliant or witty or talented, and he's not the kind of person who typically assumes the central position in a novel. But Proulx creates a simple and compelling tale of Quoyle's psychological and spiritual growth. Along the way, we get to look in on the maritime beauty of what is probably a disappearing way of life." goodreads description
The Next Best Book Club
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OK, so here are the rules:
Name a country (any in the world) and then name a book (or books) that you have enjoyed and want to share with others about that country. It can be fiction or non-fiction, it doesn't matter. Only one country per post though. If you see a country listed and there is a book that you have enjoyed from there then start a new post and tell us about it. Always start the post with the name of the country you chose. (god, I'm so bossy. You can tell I boss people around for a living, LOL).