• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Help Wanted for an Olympic Challenge

Personally I'd like it if there was a recommendations subforum somewhere on TBF. That way we could have a thread for different countries detailing recommended authors and books etc
I partly say that as the authors I like don't seem to get mentioned on TBF and I always end up making recommendations as my contribution anyway :(
 
Kenny Shovel said:
Personally I'd like it if there was a recommendations subforum somewhere on TBF. That way we could have a thread for different countries detailing recommended authors and books etc
I partly say that as the authors I like don't seem to get mentioned on TBF and I always end up making recommendations as my contribution anyway :(
Click to expand...


That's a great idea. I know I would visit it often..I see you aren't making any promises about the bilingual decoder ring though...:p
 
abecedarian said:
That's a great idea. I know I would visit it often..I see you aren't making any promises about the bilingual decoder ring though...:p
Click to expand...
Mmm... but aren't all the book-related forums really about recommendations anyway? I mean, if I'm looking for recommendations I look through the Forum pages for books other members have liked.

I was thinking this morning that it would be nice if this 'international' list could be made a sticky and summurised by a mod now and then, rather like the Book-related websites thread or the author websites thread.
 
Kookamoor said:
Mmm... but aren't all the book-related forums really about recommendations anyway?
Click to expand...
True, although it does seem to be the same few books being recommended all the time.
Kookamoor said:
I was thinking this morning that it would be nice if this 'international' list could be made a sticky and summurised by a mod now and then, rather like the Book-related websites thread or the author websites thread.
Click to expand...
I've not had time to think this through fully yet, but it would be nice if there were some Amazon style 'So you'd like to learn more about' threads about differing literary cultures etc. We must have some people here who have read enough French or Russian works, for example, to knock something up, which can then be added too.

Edit: Perhaps there could be an area that is read only, and the mods can move good quality posts, like the 'So you'd like to' guides into?
 
Kenny Shovel said:
True, although it does seem to be the same few books being recommended all the time.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know what you mean. If someone asks for fantasy/sci fi recommendations for a newbie, I generally offer the same ones. If someone's after Australian literature, I offer the same ones. Sure, I discover new stuff all the time, but many of my core recommendations are the same.

Kenny Shovel said:
I've not had time to think this through fully yet, but it would be nice if there were some Amazon style 'So you'd like to learn more about' threads about differing literary cultures etc. We must have some people here who have read enough French or Russian works, for example, to knock something up, which can then be added too.

Edit: Perhaps there could be an area that is read only, and the mods can move good quality posts, like the 'So you'd like to' guides into?
Click to expand...
Mmm... it's got potential, for sure. But I don't know whether a separate forum would do it.

In an ideal world where web space and Darren's time were free and unlimitted, I'd like to see each member be able to maintain a page wherein they could put all their recommendations and reviews and currently/recently read books. That way, if you liked a member's previous recommendations you could jump to this page and check out what else they liked. There could also be a space for 'Top 5 Recommendations' for each genre/category. Some kind of scripting could also be used to transfer the book titles from their 'Top 5 recommendations' for each genre into a central recommendations data base which users could access. But that seems very expensive and pie in the sky, so I'll just keep dreaming for now :D .
 
Sorry for Hijacking your thread btw Abcedarian. :)[/QUOTE]

Aw that's alright Z-I think of it as a free world lit course;)
 
abecedarian said:
Hey Minn-I see you're reading a book of Latin American stories..please share your opinions, either in a new thread or in the one for the olympic challenge!
Click to expand...
¡Ay, Caramba! I didn't know this was going to be on the test. The sad truth is, I've hardly read anything in the past week. :eek: Maybe this is exactly the friendly kick in the pants I need. :D
 
Two books to consider:

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende (Chile)

Princes of Ireland: Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherfurd (Ireland)
 
Ok, maybe you are looking for stuff that's more "off the beaten track" but I've noticed most people tend to forget Belgium altogether so I'll recommend Amélie Nothomb's "Fear and Trembling" or "The Character of Rain". I don't know any Flemish writers, sorry!
Unless we're taking into account where authors were born, which would funnily enough make Mlle Nothomb Japanese, Isabel Allende Peruvian, etc. etc.
BTW, Albert Camus is generally considered to be a French writer (http://nobelprize.org/literature/)

As for Latin American writers, I'll recommend another COLOMBIAN (not Columbian, please!) writer, Santiago Gamboa.
 
WoundedThorns said:
i'm actually surprised that some people had books from Poland. (ah yes, my mother country =P)
Click to expand...


Don't worry, I'll get to Poland eventually;) At the moment I'm stuck in the High Plateau of Albania ..since my favorite husband took my book to work:rolleyes:
 
What an interesting idea!!!

There's quite a list already for Norway but I liked Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, and of course, Life of Pi for India, Margaret Atwood for Canada, and Diary of Anne Frank for Germany. Someone has mentioned Ireland, but Dubliners is a good book to start off on James Joyce. And Bill Bryson has written a few based all around the world, but would it be cheating to consider Neither Here Nor There as covering most European countries?!
 
steffee said:
What an interesting idea!!!

There's quite a list already for Norway but I liked Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, and of course, Life of Pi for India, Margaret Atwood for Canada, and Diary of Anne Frank for Germany. Someone has mentioned Ireland, but Dubliners is a good book to start off on James Joyce. And Bill Bryson has written a few based all around the world, but would it be cheating to consider Neither Here Nor There as covering most European countries?!
Click to expand...


According to the lady who created the challenge, the author should ideally be a citizen of the representative nation. That is often difficult to acertain since so many writers are in exile for various reasons. It feels odd to me to have to count Rohinton Mistry as a Canadian and not an Indian..leaving out other Canadians whose work might give the reader a better sense of Canadian life and issues. Ultimately each participant will have to choose for themselves, and I personally think that the point is to enjoy the journey rather than focus on the "letter of the law." This reading around the world business looks like a life-time challenge rather than a limited time one anyway. It's a little like deciding to eat an elephant, thinking it's the size of a squirrel, only to find out after a few bites just how wrong one was..
 
you know, this challenge seems quite interesting all of a dussen. could you put together a list of books and countries suggested here for other readers who are interested?
 
HermioneWeasley said:
you know, this challenge seems quite interesting all of a dussen. could you put together a list of books and countries suggested here for other readers who are interested?
Click to expand...


I've saved all the suggestions I've found so far from here and bookcrossing in a word document. When I get home (I'm at the library now) I can post it. It's a hodgepodge, not in any order at all. I've found some terrific websites that have links for various countries and lists of authors from all over. Finding reading material will not be difficult, picking just one per country will be. So, I've decided that I'll aim to read one per place, but if something looks too inviting, and I've already got one for that nation, I'll read what I want. For instance, I'm reading this book from an Icelandic author and I really like his style. Who is harmed if I read another by him? The whole point of the exercise is to read "outside the box" anyway.
 
Here are a few suggestions from from the folks at bookcrossing:
The Perfume by Suskind
Crazy" by Benjamin Lebert
Henning Mankell (Sweden), Arto Paasilinna (Finland), Andrea Camilleri (Italy)
Henning Mankell writes also other things than mysteries, some books are set in Africa. You can find some information from:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/---/writer.asp?...
Arto Paasilinna is even more popular abroad than in Finland. Many of his books have been translated into English, too. Some information can be read at:
http://virtual.finland.fi/---/showarticle.asp?...
Andrea Camilleri wrote historical novels but he came very popular with his Montalbano-books which were filmed a few years ago. Some of his books have been translated into English:
http://italian-mysteries.com/ACAap.html
translated from Dutch: Carl Friedman
highly recommended: books by the Dutch (female) author Carl Friedman:
The Shovel and the Loom (1993), Nightfather (1991) and The Gray Lover: Three Stories (1996). see http://www.babelguides.com/---/6312
The Babelguide.com website makes world literature available in English translation more accessible. Happy search!

Some Norwegians
Lars Saabye Christensen- Received wild acclaims for The Half Brother (http://www.amazon.co.uk/---/). I've read some of his others, and was quite impressed, haven't gotten round to this one yet, though.
For short stories, try Kjell Askildsen- A Sudden Liberating Thought (http://www.amazon.co.uk/---/1870041240), this I have read, and it's quite brilliant.
One of my favourite authors writes mainly crime fiction, but it's "good literature" too, even if it involves private investigators and death- Gunnar Staalesen: The Writing on the Wall is available in English (http://www.amazon.co.uk/---/).
Jostein Gaarder- Sophie's World, The Solitaire Mystery, The Ringmaster's Daughter, The Christmas Mystery.
Milan Kundera- The Inbeareable Lightness of Being, Ignorance.


Be aware that I just cut and pasted into the word document, not bothering with editing..so if it says " l loved this.." that was somebody else's opinion, not mine ;0)
 
More:
ANOCA AFRICA
BOT Botswana / When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head
CMR Cameroon / Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
CPV Cape Verde / The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo by Germano Almeida
CIV Côte d'Ivoire / As The Crow Flies by Veronique Tadjo
EGY Egypt / Children of the alley by Naguib Mahfouz
ERI Eritrea / We Have Our Voice: Selected Poems of Reesom Haile
GHA Ghana / Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa by Ama Ata Aidoo
KEN Kenya / Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiongo
LES Lesotho / Blanket Boy's Moon by Peter Lanham, A. S. Mopeli-Paulus
MRI Mauritius / The Rape of Sita by Lindsey Collen
MAR Morocco / Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi
MOZ Mozambique / We Killed Mangy-Dog and Other Stories by Luis Bernardo
NGR Nigeria / Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
SEN Senegal / So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba
SLE Sierra Leone / Concerto for an Exile by Syl Cheney-Coker
SUD Sudan / The Wedding of Zein by Tayeb Salih
ZIM Zimbabwe / House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top