Help Wanted for an Olympic Challenge

[Kenny Shovel]

One of the main benefits of the challenge would be that you find authors you wouldn't normally have read that you want to explore further. Any like that jumped out at you so far?

 

[abecedarian]

One of the main benefits of the challenge would be that you find authors you wouldn't normally have read that you want to explore further. Any like that jumped out at you so far?

Oh yeah! I want to investigate these writers further:
Ismail Kadare
Halldor Laxness
Rani Manicka
Edwidge Danticat
Tim Winton
Kazuo Ishiguro
Kamilla Shamsie
Neil Gaiman
Roddy Doyle
Alexander McCall Smith
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Yukio Mishima

And certain countries will most definately be revisisted, as it is impossible to pick just one representative book.

 

[Shade]

You're doing brilliantly, abecedarian! This is a great challenge. If you get time you could start a brief thread on each book as you finish it with just a few lines on it which might be a good way of encouraging les autres (eg me!), and spark further discussion.

I have rarely been able to get on very well with literature in translation, and I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's my insular, little-islander mindset. Perhaps it's to do with the fact that what gives me most pleasure in a book are words on a sentence-by-sentence level (showy, self-regarding prose a speciality) rather than human interest or subject matter, and it's harder to get that in a book that isn't in its original language (and where I don't speak the original language). Perhaps it's because I'm too lazy to make the effort to connect with another culture. Dammit, by my narrow Anglophile standards, the fact that recently I've been reading mostly US authors is a progression.

Looking over the books I've read this year, only about 10% are in translation - and almost half of those (Murakami, Hrabal, Vargas) I didn't like or couldn't finish. I can only think of a few books in translation I've read recently that I adored beyond measure, and even they are highly standard, mainstream texts (for the curious, I'm thinking of Madame Bovary and The Death of Ivan Ilyich).

So anyway, kudos to thou, abecedarian!

Kenny, you've mentioned elsewhere that you've gradually withdrawn from posting here because there's little interest in the sort of books you read. I think that's a shame - and I think there is interest, even if others (like me) don't feel capable of responding adequately. So do please keep sharing your wider-world literary experiences with us. Have you found a forum where there is more discussion of such stuff? Care to point us at it? (I promise only to lurk...)

 

[abecedarian]

You're doing brilliantly, abecedarian! This is a great challenge. If you get time you could start a brief thread on each book as you finish it with just a few lines on it which might be a good way of encouraging les autres (eg me!), and spark further discussion.

I have rarely been able to get on very well with literature in translation, and I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's my insular, little-islander mindset. Perhaps it's to do with the fact that what gives me most pleasure in a book are words on a sentence-by-sentence level (showy, self-regarding prose a speciality) rather than human interest or subject matter, and it's harder to get that in a book that isn't in its original language (and where I don't speak the original language). Perhaps it's because I'm too lazy to make the effort to connect with another culture. Dammit, by my narrow Anglophile standards, the fact that recently I've been reading mostly US authors is a progression.

Looking over the books I've read this year, only about 10% are in translation - and almost half of those (Murakami, Hrabal, Vargas) I didn't like or couldn't finish. I can only think of a few books in translation I've read recently that I adored beyond measure, and even they are highly standard, mainstream texts (for the curious, I'm thinking of Madame Bovary and The Death of Ivan Ilyich).

So anyway, kudos to thou, abecedarian!

Kenny, you've mentioned elsewhere that you've gradually withdrawn from posting here because there's little interest in the sort of books you read. I think that's a shame - and I think there is interest, even if others (like me) don't feel capable of responding adequately. So do please keep sharing your wider-world literary experiences with us. Have you found a forum where there is more discussion of such stuff? Care to point us at it? (I promise only to lurk...)

I've started a threads for some of the books I've read for the challenge..but maybe I'm picking books too far off the beaten path. Anyway, I'm having a great time, and even my doubting Thomas of a hubby has tried one or two of my selections. I think he even liked one of them
I agree with you Shade, I want Kenny Shovel to keep sharing his books with us here. Thanks to him, I found Ismail Kadare, Halldor Laxness, and Knut Hamsun. I didn't care for the Hamsun book I read, but it wasn't because the man couldn't write!

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Oh yeah! I want to investigate these writers further:
Ismail Kadare
Halldor Laxness
Rani Manicka
Edwidge Danticat
Tim Winton
Kazuo Ishiguro
Kamilla Shamsie
Neil Gaiman
Roddy Doyle
Alexander McCall Smith
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Yukio Mishima

The only problem I have with this thread is the thought of how many authors you're going to discover, how many will then end up on my ever expanding TBR list, and just how much it'll all cost me.

Anyway of the above I can make suggestions of where to go next for a few:

Ismail Kadare

I did start a thread on him here, but most of that conversation was conducted by e-mail and there seems to be more information in the Broken April thread that you started yourself. I think I'd go with 'The Palace of Dreams' and 'The Pyramid' as good books to try next.

Halldor Laxness

I can also recommend 'The Atom Station' and 'Paradise Reclaimed'. I seem to have already mentioned to you my failure to get to grips with 'Under the Glacier'.

Neil Gaiman

Actually I only really know his comic stuff, so I'm probably of no real use here, the person to ask seems to be Libra6Poe, she appears to have a soft spot for him!

Roddy Doyle

If you liked the Barrytown trilogy you should love 'Paddy Clarke ha ha ha', 'The woman who walked into doors' is also good. His books since then I've not read yet, far too contempory for me I'm afraid.

Yukio Mishima

I made suggestions for further reading in this post reponding to Stewarts excellent review of 'The sailor who fell from grace with the sea'.

Knut Hamsun

If "The women at the pump" didn't do it for you, but you want to try more by Hamsun then perhaps Zoliparas suggestion of "Hunger" would have been a better choice. We have a brief discussion of his work in this thread, it may help you select your next book by him.

Regards,

K-S

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Kenny, you've mentioned elsewhere that you've gradually withdrawn from posting here because there's little interest in the sort of books you read. I think that's a shame - and I think there is interest, even if others (like me) don't feel capable of responding adequately. So do please keep sharing your wider-world literary experiences with us. Have you found a forum where there is more discussion of such stuff? Care to point us at it? (I promise only to lurk...)

I agree with you Shade, I want Kenny Shovel to keep sharing his books with us here.

Ok, thanks for that. I don’t post as much (partly as I only read two books in March & April, naughty me) but I will still post if I have info that can help.

I don’t really know of a forum that discusses World Lit across the board, I suspect the only way that could happen is if a forum had enough members that there were a few that could initiate discussion and get others interested.

Anyway, reading World Lit isn’t necessarily a virtuous thing in itself, they're just another, larger span of books. I've only scratched the surface myself, quite frankly I'm pretty lost, just stumbling around trying to find stuff I like. Still, it’s a good stick to hit the "You're an idoit for liking that, I’m better read than thee” posts you can occasionally find on book boards, but that’s another story.

I’ll certainly keep an eye on this thread as I’d be interested in any conclusions you come to about literature in various parts of the world, if any patterns and differences emerge.
For example I’ve heard that Latin America has a good reputation for short story writers, but apart from Jorge Luis Borges, I can’t claim to have explored this area.
I’d also say that from reading some Czech literature I get the impression that they have a wider definition for what they consider to be literature. “The Good Soldier Svejk,” a comedy, being voted the greatest Czech book of all time in a poll of their critics; Bohumil Hrabal, an absurdist with a playful use of rural slang being another lauded author.
The use of allegory by Soviet era authors, the more minimalist approach to language that some Japanese authors used etc…are all interesting trends. Hopefully you may be able to spot other things like this.

Regards,

K-S

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Abecedarian. A suggestion for Estonia:

I’ve just finished “The Compromise” by Sergi Dovlatov. Whilst Dovlatov was Russian, “The Compromise” is a collection of stories from his time working as a journalist in Tallinn, Estonia. As you can see from this excerpt, he wrote with that very dry sense of humour many Russians have:

Chief Editor Turonaok split the seat of his trousers. They split without noticeable strain or sound; rather, they parted along the seam. This could be viewed as a drawback of soft imported flannel.
Around noon, Turonok approached the counter of the company bar. The luminescent blueness of his editorial drawers was revealed to all his flunkies, who obsequiously let him pass without waiting on line…

…The staff workers started exchanging looks. Vagin touched the editor’s shoulder lightly.
“Boss, there’s some disorder in your clothes.”
And here the editor committed a blunder. He hastily went for his fly with both hands, and proceeded to do what musicians call a light run up the keyboard. Convinced himself that the frontiers were closed. He turned red and said, “Find a better application for your humour.”
He turned around and walked out, flooding his subordinates with the neon radiance of his underwear.

The book is a very easy read, and at 150 pages you should have no difficulty completing it before needing to return it to the library.

I’ll let you know if I encounter anything else you might find useful.

Regards,

K-S

 

[abecedarian]

Abecedarian. A suggestion for Estonia:

I’ve just finished “The Compromise” by Sergi Dovlatov. Whilst Dovlatov was Russian, “The Compromise” is a collection of stories from his time working as a journalist in Tallinn, Estonia. As you can see from this excerpt, he wrote with that very dry sense of humour many Russians have:



The book is a very easy read, and at 150 pages you should have no difficulty completing it before needing to return it to the library.

I’ll let you know if I encounter anything else you might find useful.

Regards,

K-S

Thank you ever so much Kenny! I was wondering what to do about Estonia. Its another of those regions I know so very little about. By all means, please keep those suggestions coming. Where did you want your chocolate chip cookies shipped?

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Thank you ever so much Kenny! I was wondering what to do about Estonia. Its another of those regions I know so very little about. By all means, please keep those suggestions coming. Where did you want your chocolate chip cookies shipped?

The other baltic countries may be more difficult. I've been on holiday to Riga and asked for good Lativian writers from one of the locals; thier response "We have no good writers". Ho hum.
If books set in a country are an allowable bending of the rule than there is "The Dogs of Riga" but I've not read it myself so can't recommend.

btw, I'm in the process of sticking all my books, or at least the ones I have on my bookshelves at home, onto one of these listing sites, which also allow you to tag your selections with things like "Russian Lit", "Play" etc.
When I'm done I'll stick a link in my signature so you can have a look round and see if there is anything that might help your challenge. Although to be honest I think I've chucked all the obscure ones I know in your direction already.

Regards,

K-S

 

[abecedarian]

The other baltic countries may be more difficult. I've been on holiday to Riga and asked for good Lativian writers from one of the locals; thier response "We have no good writers". Ho hum.
If books set in a country are an allowable bending of the rule than there is "The Dogs of Riga" but I've not read it myself so can't recommend.

btw, I'm in the process of sticking all my books, or at least the ones I have on my bookshelves at home, onto one of these listing sites, which also allow you to tag your selections with things like "Russian Lit", "Play" etc.
When I'm done I'll stick a link in my signature so you can have a look round and see if there is anything that might help your challenge. Although to be honest I think I've chucked all the obscure ones I know in your direction already.

Regards,

K-S

The 'rules' do allow for not being able to find writers for some countries..I'll look forward to 'reading' your shelves; I'm sure there's plenty of interesting stuff there. Anyway, I'm convinced "obscure" is just a state of mind. Just this morning, while looking at the Kansas library system for Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate-not exactly obscure, right? I only found 4 holdings for the book. If I liked audios or wanted the movie, I could have it 20 times over Yet even for Kadare, I found more than 20 listings for various titles in his collection..go figure. I think I'll check out some of the 'obscure' Mexican writers before I go for the Esquivel book..

 

[Stewart]

Well, when considering Mexicans, remember that you can skip Guillermo Arriaga, since he sucks.

 

[abecedarian]

Well, when considering Mexicans, remember that you can skip Guillermo Arriaga, since he sucks.

Just as well. I'd have to find my notes, but I don't remember him being on the list I saw yesterday Thanks for that 'negative critique' so I can avoid the 'less than great' writers. ( I didn't want to say "crappy" )

 

[Kenny Shovel]

...Anyway, I'm convinced "obscure" is just a state of mind...

I thought that until I tried to track down some of Zolipara's Norwegien recommendations. I must get back to them...

 

[Stewart]

Just found the following on the Guardian website which those (i.e. Kenny) looking for novelists from various countries may enjoy having a browse of.

It's the Guardian's World Book Tour Blog where each month they visit a different country and people are invited to list books that they like from that country. It started this year and thus far they have visited Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Canada, Turkey, Japan. They are currently in Italy.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Thanks, that is interesting. The Czech one reminds me I need to write a review of "The War With The Newts".

 

[Zolipara]

Thanks, that is interesting. The Czech one reminds me I need to write a review of "The War With The Newts".

Its been many years since i read that one, but i liked it a lot.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Its been many years since i read that one, but i liked it a lot.

It was a re-read on my part as I'm trying to get through a few Capek books at the moment. I'd say it's one of the best books of it's kind I've read, and still relevant almost 70 years after it was written. Plus ca change, plus ca mem chose I guess!

 

[Zolipara]

I tried to find more books by Capek at the time but i could not find any others that were translated to norwegian. I might have a go at reading some more of his books in english.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

I tried to find more books by Capek at the time but i could not find any others that were translated to norwegian. I might have a go at reading some more of his books in english.

Capek's work comes across as variable in quality in English, I suspect that may be because alot of it suffers from poor and/or old translations. His plays for example read as very stiff and frankly terrible. Whether R.U.R. (the play that introduced the work robot) is really as bad as the version I read or if it is affected by a poor translation I can't say.
Before getting any translation of his work I'd do a bit of investigation and find out if you've got a good contemporary version.

Regards,

K-S

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Olympic Challenge - Eastern Europe

abecedarian:

I had another root through my bookshelves and found "Northern Lights" by Drago Jancar who is a Slovenian writer, I suspect I didn't mention it before as it didn't make much impression on me.*
Anyway it led me to the publishers website, and the section they call "Writings from an unbound Europe". There seem to be titles from a number of difficult to find Eastern European countires, with four choices for Bosnia & Herzegovina!

Hope this helps,

K-S

*Others liked it though, see review.