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Tracy's Global Challenge


everydayxangels

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I'm not limiting this challenge to just 2009, though I hope to get a huge chunk completed.

 

Please, please, PLEASE comment on books if you have read any, or if you think that I would like to read a certain book. I tend to read fiction, though occasionally read biographies and non-fiction if the are really good. I like off-the-beaten-path books, and am currently in a "non-western" fiction reading spree.

 

I need help choosing what to read next, as the list is overwhelming, so 'nudging' a book helps a lot for me.

 

I'm not noting American fiction. It is organized by Continent/Area of the world:

 

NORTH AMERICA

Canada [Crow Lake - Mary Lawson]

 

CENTRAL AMERICA / CARIBBEAN

Cuba: [Waiting for snow in Havana - Eire]

Dominica: [Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys]

Dominican Republic: [The Color of My Words - Lynn Joseph] [The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Diaz] [in the Time of Butterflies - Alvarez]

Haiti [The Dew Breaker - Danticat]

SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina [The Aleph and Other Stories - Borges]

Brazil [Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon - Amado]

Chile [2666 - Bolano] [Portrait in Sepia - Allende] [Two Women - Marianne Fredrikkson]

Peru [The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Wilder]

Uruguay [The House of Paper - Dominguez]

Venezuela [Nostromo - Joseph Conrad]

 

AFRICA

Algeria [The Last Summer of Reason - Tahar Djaout] [The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles]

Angola [The Book of Chameleons - Agualusa]

Benin [The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin]

Botswana [A Question of Power- Bessie Head] [Mating - Norman Rush] [A Story Like The Wind - van der Post] [Maru - Bessie Head]

Brundi [The True Sources of the Nile by Sarah Stone]

Burkina Faso [Of Water and the Spirit by Amidoma Patrice Some]

Egypt [Woman at Point Zero - Saadawi] [The Yacoubian Building - Aswany] [in The Eye of the Sun - Ahdaf Soueif]

Eritrea [Towards Asmara - Thomas Keneally]

Gabon [Mema - Mengara]

Ghana [The seasons of Beento Blackbird - Busia] [Changes - Aidoo]

Ivory Coast [Whiteman - D'Souza]

Kenya [The River Between - Thiong'o] [A Grain of Wheat - Thiong'o] [The In-Between World of Vikram Lall - Vassanji] [A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Drayson]

Lesotho [she Plays With The Darkness - Zakes Mda] [under African Skies - Charles Larson] [Chaka - Mofolo]

Libya [in The Country of Men - Matar]

Mali [segu - Maryse Conde] [Getting Rid of it - Collen]

Mauritius [Getting Rid of It - Collen]

Morocco [Let It Come Down - Bowles] [The Sheltering Sky - Bowles] [This Blinding Absence of Light - Jelloun] [Last Chapter - Leila Abouzeid]

Mozambique [sleepwalking Land - Mia Couto] [The last flight of the flamingo - Couto] [under the Frangipani - Mia Cuota]

Nigeria [Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe] [The Thing Around Your Neck - Andichie] [The Joys of Motherhood - Emechetta] [Everything Good Will Come - Atta]

Niger [Water Music - Boyle]

Nigeria [Graceland - Chris Abani] [Half of a Yellow Sun - Adichie]

Senegal [Belly of the Atlantic - Diome] [So Long A Letter - Ba] [God's Bits of Wood - Ousmane] [Ambiguous Adventure - Kane]

Sierra Leone [Ancestor stones - Forna]

Somolia [infidel - Ali] [Desert Flower - Dirie]

South Africa [The Smell of Apples - Behr] [The Whale Caller - Zakes Mda] [Cry, The Beloved Country - Paton] [The Grass is Singing - Doris Lessing]

Sudan [Minaret - Aboulela] [season of the Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih]

Tanzania[Desertion - Abdulrazak Gurnah]

Uganda [The Gravity of Sunlight - Shand] [Abyssinian Chronicles - Isegawa]

Zanzibar [by The Sea - Gurnah]

Zimbabwe [Zimbabwe - Maraire] [Butterfly Burning - Yvonne Vera] [Nervous Conditions - Tsitsi Dangarembga] [The Grass Is Singing - Lessing] [stone Virgins - Yvonne Vera]

 

EUROPE

France [Bonjour Tristess - Sagan]

Italy [The enchantress of Florence - Rushdie] [invisible Cities - Italo Calvino]

Netherlands [A Leap - Enquist]

Norway [Out Stealing Horses - Petterson]

Portugal [Alentejo Blue - Monica Ali]

Sweden [Astrid and Veronika - Olsson]

UK [Atonement - McEwan]

MIDDLE EAST

Afghanistan [A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini] [Kite Runner - Hosseini] [Wasted Vigil - Aslam]

Bangladesh [The Golden Age - Anam]

Iran [Blood of Flowers - Amirrezvani] [Persepolis I & II - Marjane Satrapi] [Caspian Rain - Nahai] [saffron Kitchen - Crowther]

Lebanon [The Hakawati - Rabin Alameddine]

Pakistan [What the Body Remembers - Baldwin] [The Assassin's Song - Vassanji]

Turkey [Gardens of Water - Drew] ['person of dubious parentage' of Istanbul - Shafak] [My Name Is Red - Pamuk]

Yemen [Like Nowhere else - Denyse Woods]

 

ASIA

Bengladesh [The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh]

Bhutan [The Circle of Karma - Kunzang Choden]

Burma [The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh]

China [Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - See] [Peony in Love - See] [The Ginseng Hunter - Talarigo] [The Red Azalea - Minn] [Balzac & The Little Chinese Seamstress - Dai Sijie] [Drink and Dream Teahouse - Justin Hill] [Everything Under the Sky - Asensi] [Painter of Shanghai - Jennifer Epstein]

East Timor [The Redundancy of Courage - Timothy Mo]

India [Palace of Illusion - Divakaruni] [In Times of Seige- Hariharan] [Across The Lakes - Chatterjee] [beneath A Marble Sky - John Shors] [The Circle of Reason - Ghosh] [Death of Vishnu - Suri] [The Hero's Walk - Anita Rau Badami] [Point of Return - Siddhartha Deb] [sea of Poppies - Ghosh] [The White Tiger - Adiga] [The Inheritance of Loss - Desai] [Animal's People - Sinha]

Indonesia [All That is Gone - Toer] [House of Glass - Toer]

Japan [The Samurai's Garden - Tsukiyama] [The Diving Pool - Ogawa]

Malaysia [The Harmony Silk Factory - Tash Aw]

Mongolia [Wolk Totem - Rong]

Siberia [The Necessary Grace to Fall - Oschner]

Sri Lanka [The Match - Gunesekera] [Mosquito - Roma Tearne] [Reef - Gunesekera]

Taiwan [The Foreigner - Lin]

Vietnam [The Book of Salt - Monique Truong]

 

PACIFIC

Australia [Looking For Alibrandi - Marchetta] [Saving Francesca - Marchetta] [breath - Winton]

New Zealand [Mister Pip - Jones] [Dogside Story - Patricia Graces] [The Bone People - Hulme]

 

--------

Black = it is my "TBR" book for that country

Red = Have read that book

 

Edited by everydayxangels
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Wow.. Impressive challenge! Great way to "see" the world, even if you can't physically travel to all of these places!

 

The only two I've read are "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns".. both excellent reads for me though.

Also, haven't read it yet, but "White Tiger" is supposed to great as well.. Was just talking with a colleague yesterday about this, and she just finished reading it. It came highly recommended to me, so that's all I can offer on that one. :lol:

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Wonderful challenge, I love the map!

 

Like Beth I loved Khaled Hosseini's novels. The Yacoubien building also is wonderful *grins* I'd love to know what you think of A grain of wheat once you get to it as it's on my wishlist.

 

I'd make suggestions but I see you already have quite a full list.

 

I'm not making it a chllange as such but I also try to read as many books as possible from foreign authors/ showing other countries/ delving into the questions of culture and identity... Maybe I should had a pretty map like this to my blog though? It would be a neat way to track what areas I've looked into and more importantly which I have overlooked!

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Tracy, what criteria are you using to decide what books you are reading for each country?

 

None, really. I would prefer it if the author was from the country, or at least from the region, but that isn't always the case. And most of those books are fiction, but I'm open to biographies. I guess I don't want a guide book or the history of the area as I am more interested in the society/humanitarian perspective.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ugh. I have been meaning to update my challenge, and I did. However, I hit the backspace on the computer and took me back a page and when I came back, all of my writing was deleted! Twice this happened. So frustrating.

 

ZIMBABWE

Butterfly Burning by Yvonne Vera

A slim read that packs a punch. It was incredibly dense and literary, but incredibly beautiful and lyrical. Fumbatha, a construction worker meets the heroine, Phephelaphi and wishes her to be his and "wants her like the land beneath his feet." Phephali is not satisfied with the cage he provides her and her desire for freedom and exploration ends their relationship. It was so beautiful and provided immense insight to Zimbabwe, Vera oftentimes plugging her beliefs into the plot. However, it was so dense hat I am going to have to re-read it simply to comprehend it fully.

 

CHINA

Balzac & The Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

A pleasant read about censorship and "re-education" during the Chinese cultural revolution. Two city youths are sent to the rural hill of china to be re-educated by the peasants. In the surrounding town, they form a reserved friendship with Four-Eyes, whose mysterious suitcase catches the attention of the nameless narrator. The uncover the suitcase to discover a case full of banned western novels. The two boys devour the works and in time change their own circumstances. This book highlights the irony of the re-education that was done and presents insight into present / western censorship.

 

SIERRA LEONE

Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna

I can compare it to The Red Tent for Africa. Abbie, living in present day London, is called back to her home country Sierra Leone by guilt. Four of her 11 aunts, who all shared the same husband tell the stories of their lives. A very interesting look at the globalization / colonization. It spanned from 1920's to the 1990's told through stories by the aunts. The Igbo faith, the coming of "the white man" and with him their Muslim faith (different from the Christian faith) and modernization. I thought it most interesting that although women were still incredibly oppressed, some still were able to leave their husbands if their circumstances became unbearable. A little unknown fact, Sierra Leone created the self-adhesive stamp.

 

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8% of the world completed.

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everydayangels, I just came across your Librarything page & I see that you have the Death of Vishnu on your wishlist. I have it & you are most welcome to it, if you are interested! I would just ask you to cover the cost of the postage & it's yours! Let me know!

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  • 4 weeks later...

GHANA

The Seasons of Beento Blackbird By Akosua Busia

A children's author, Solomon loves his women and loves love. One of his wives lives on a lush island in the Carribbean. She is an easy-going and sensitive soul, a very likable character though very little is said of her. His other, younger and shy wife lives in Ghana. He also has a potential love interest, his agent/publicist in America. The women are the seasons of Solomon. The writing was beautiful at times with the scenic depiction and the description of the culture, but the dialogue was painfully improbable at times. Personally, I think she could have done without Solomon's girlfriend/publicist in America. Though his trips to America were very interesting, with the racism that he experiences, I just don't think it was entirely necessary.

 

IRAN

Complete Persepolis Marjane Satrapi

I was at first apprehensive about reading a graphic novel, but as it was for school, I saw very little choice. I loved it whole very much. Very interesting looking at the revolution through a child's eyes and in the end I was very thankful for the sketches. The writing as well as the pictures were incredibly witty and humorous. The little girls running about with the veils, making them out to be toys. Highly recommended.

 

KENYA

The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o (quite a mouthful)

I had read Achebe's depiction of colonization and then the most toxic aspect was the religion, that was the case for this novel as well. The daughter of a Christian fanatic wishes to be circumcised, which is frowned vehemently upon by her fathers new-found religion. She decides to disobey the person she fears most and runs away to be circumcised and live with her aunt. The young woman dies from being circumcised, which people believe to be their ancestors/gods frowning upon the new religion. Where people used to be grey about their faith, the legend of the daughter is now the catalyst for the war between Christianity and the indigenous faith. I thoroughly enjoyed book.

 

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10.2% completed

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  • 1 month later...

NETHERLANDS

A Leap by Anna Enquist

A really beautiful collection of short drama monologues. The first one is my favorite, a story of Alma who is a talented musician is given the ultimatum: her lover or her music / herself. She chooses her lover and starts her life as "her husbands wife" then "her child's mother" and after introspection she begins to doubt her decision. However, at the end she is given another chance to choose and her decision is heart-breaking. I strongly recommend this.

 

NIGERIA

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie (released June 16th)

I enjoyed this short story collection almost as much as Half of a Yellow Sun. In most of the stories, it's about Nigerian-Americans, each told with a fresh perspective and about a different subject-matter. Adichie writes beautifully and certainly doesn't disappoint with her latest.

 

NIGERIA

The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta

Nnu Ego, the daughter of a fiercely independent woman and a powerful man, makes the transition of a rural family-oriented society to an urban "white" city. She deals with the vast heart-breaking differences between the two cultures. Her husband now serves a white woman younger than he, who refers to him as "boy" and she endures the loss of her first-born. I thought it very well written and a beautiful piece of work.

 

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I take it since you haven't answered me that you're not interested in having my copy of "The Death of Vishnu"?

 

Oh god, I'm so sorry. I don't check this very often and must have skipped over your post. I apologize. I really appreciate you offering it, but I have been re-thinking that book all together. thank you though! and again, I'm sorry that I ignored you.

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  • 2 months later...

ISRAEL

Light Fell by Evan Fallenberg

A heartbreaking story about a man who fell in love with his rabbi - with his rabbi falling back. The two are torn between what they feel and what they know and ultimately the secret of their relationship drives the rabbi to commit suicide. They're relationship dies as a secret with only the families aware of it. The rest 150 pages is about the surviving lovers decision to leave his family and his oppressive orthodox community. It revolves around a dinner party he is throwing for his 50th birthday and his three sons are invited - the first time in decades they will all be together.

 

I enjoyed it, but I thought the love story was incredibly under-developed. They meet and then next week they're in love. Fallenberg pushes hard that it's an emotional and intellectual affair too, but perhaps a little too hard. It was slightly unbelievable.

 

JAMAICA

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Our heroine, Antoinette, grows up on the rotting Coulibri estate in Jamaica with her slightly crazy mother and her mentally disabled brother. She spends a lot of time away from the house, wishing to be accepted by the former slaves who see her only as a "white nigger". Her mother re-marries and he ever-absent and shortly after the estate burns to the ground. Because her mother despises her, Antoinette is sent to a covenant and her mother his institutionalized.

 

Many years later her step-father returns to arrange a marriage with a wealthy Englishman who is only marrying her for the wealth he will acquire - and makes not attempts at loving Antionette. Their relationship is taxing on Antionette. He hates the island, begins to hate Antionette and starts sleeping with one of her servants, and he is perfectly comfortable knowing that Antionette is one room over and hears all of it. Eventually he removes her from the island she loves, to England where she is locked in the attic and roams the house ghost-like for the rest of her life.

 

This book was not unlike a dream.

 

RUSSIA

First Love by Turgenev

A lovely little novella about a dinner party that ends with one of the guests sharing the tale of his first love. He is sixteen and his in love with the vain Princess Zinaida who lives one house over. A coming of age story that revolves around first loves and the loss of innocence. And like all first loves, it's tragic and dramatic.

 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Diaz is one hell of a writer and I felt I learned so much about Trujillo and life culture of the Dominican Republic. And even after all that I don't know how much I LOVED the book the way everyone has raved about it. I kept waiting for something to happen. It felt like the plot was going to unfold and I was going to be in for a big shock, but there wasn't. Not that I need a shocking plot, I prefer character over plot actually, but for some reason I felt that's what I was going to get and then it wasn't given. Still excellent writing and a good book.

 

EGYPT

Woman at Point Zero by El Saadawi

I absolutely loved it. It's about Firdaus, a woman who is one death-row in Egypt and is going to die in a week for killing a pimp. She was born to parents who didn't love her and given to her uncle who sexually abused her. Then married off to an old widow who abused her more. Each relationship started out with her trusting them and in the end they treated her awfully. After her husband rapes her she decides to own her body and decide who she's going to give it to. So, she becomes a prostitute. She denies men she wants to deny and gets great satisfaction from it, as no woman is ever supposed to tell a man "no." She becomes very sucessful, owns her own apartment and nice things. After a few years, she decides to work at a factory and she hated the job, thought it incredibly oppressive and went back to being a prostitute. She said, "these women are more afraid of losing their job than a prostitute is of losing her life." How can someone be free with that kind of fear.

 

and I came to the conclusion that all the women in the book are prostitutes in some way. They all belonged to a man; their father, their husband, their boss, etc. Except Firdaus, the real prostitute, who is incredibly liberated and owns herself and demands a high price for her body. Other women are doing what she does for free and getting beaten for it, can't ever say no, can't own anything for themselves, can't own their own bodies.

 

And I don't know how I feel about it. Obviously it's a militant feminist message, obviously man-hating, but I thought the idea was interesting. The book was incredibly cynical and felt like **** after I read it, there was no hope about it, but it was a great book.

 

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12.4% of the world complete

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