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Help Wanted for an Olympic Challenge

If you haven't done Vietnam yet and are struggling (can anyone name one off the top of their head?) and need one then I came across Marguerite Duras when browsing through the Authors forum.
 
Stewart said:
If you haven't done Vietnam yet and are struggling (can anyone name one off the top of their head?) and need one then I came across Marguerite Duras when browsing through the Authors forum.
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Thanks, but I just did Vietnam with The Stars, The Earth, The River-Le Minh Hhue... but your selection sounds better; I wasn't enthralled by this collection of short stories. Can't put my finger on why, but they were rather dull.

Any bright ideas for France, besides Alexandre Dumas?
 
ABC your list and your accomplishment is so impressive but I want to ask you: Are you still excited about new authors different countries or are you just sort of trying to get through the list? I ask this because the Challenge seems to take quite a bit of discipline.

By the way The Decapitated Chicken just arrived:eek:
 
Dogmatix said:
ABC your list and your accomplishment is so impressive but I want to ask you: Are you still excited about new authors different countries or are you just sort of trying to get through the list? I ask this because the Challenge seems to take quite a bit of discipline.

By the way The Decapitated Chicken just arrived:eek:
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Wow, that was quick! The answer to both parts of your question is Yes! I'm still revved most of the time, but after a couple of eyeball-dulling books in a row, I find myself questioning the sanity of this "mission." And when someone mentions some cool book they're reading, I'd love to pause and investigate it, and I do that too now and then. I'm still wanting to 'finish the world'-sounds bad when put that way, doesn't it!- but I may not get it down in the original time frame..and that really isn't the point anymore. I'm making mental notes all the time about regions to go back and explore further, so this really is a reading lifestyle makeover and I'm having fun with it.
 
abecedarian said:
Any bright ideas for France, besides Alexandre Dumas?
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There's loads you could choose for France. You could join George W. Bush in a copy of The Stranger (though for me it's The Outsider) by Albert Camus, if you haven't already used him for Algeria. One I read recently, The Fascination Of Evil by Florian Zeller was rather good but I don't think it's available in US...yet. There's Francois Sagan, Honore de Balzac, Jules Verne, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Gustave Flaubert, and a billion more.

I certainly don't think you would like Michel Houllebecq though; too much sex.
 
Stewart said:
I certainly don't think you would like Michel Houllebecq though; too much sex.
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That's funny! Since we've done away with the stork theory and are aware the Cabbage Patch story is a mere myth..I'm left to wonder where DID these kids come from anyway?? Now I have to look this fellow up just to see what I've overlooked:rolleyes: Very clever strategy:p
 
abecedarian said:
Any bright ideas for France, besides Alexandre Dumas?
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If you're up for something really headache-inducing but fun, how about Georges Perec? Either "A Void" or "Life: A User's Manual" should do the trick...

Or Louis-Ferdinand Céline, though he pisses me off.
 
beer good said:
If you're up for something really headache-inducing but fun, how about Georges Perec? Either "A Void" or "Life: A User's Manual" should do the trick...

Or Louis-Ferdinand Céline, though he pisses me off.
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Why does he make you mad? Or maybe I should ask, how does he do that?(Why-because he CAN)
 
Perec's A Void, is a lipogrammatic novel, meaning it has been written completely without use of a letter. In this instance, the letter 'e'. Even barmier than Perec for writing it, is Gilbert Adair for translating it. From French to English...and still without the letter 'e'. :eek:
 
abecedarian said:
Why does he make you mad? Or maybe I should ask, how does he do that?(Why-because he CAN)
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I should point out that I've only read "Journey To The End Of The Night". And it's a good, occasionally great read, but... basically, I thought he comes across as a misonthrope, misogynist etc of the highest order; EVERYTHING sucks. I'm not one who's too optimistic about mankind, and even I found it hard to relate to. This guy makes Nietzsche sound like Gandhi; at least Nietzsche had some ideals.

Though I should probably blame part of my problem with "Journey..." on the very clunky translation. I definitely intend to re-read it sometime.
 
Stewart said:
Perec's A Void, is a lipogrammatic novel, meaning it has been written completely without use of a letter. In this instance, the letter 'e'. Even barmier than Perec for writing it, is Gilbert Adair for translating it. From French to English...and still without the letter 'e'. :eek:
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Jeesh! Well, the French are said to be difficult:p

Not trying to offend anyone here..just making a joke in bad taste..no hate mail, please!
 
Stewart said:
Perec's A Void, is a lipogrammatic novel, meaning it has been written completely without use of a letter. In this instance, the letter 'e'. Even barmier than Perec for writing it, is Gilbert Adair for translating it. From French to English...and still without the letter 'e'. :eek:
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Barmy, perhaps, but a fantastic read (though I can't say anything about the English translation) that takes an idea that looks ridiculous and actually does something worthwhile with it; it's part detective story, part parody, and partly about something that seems to be missing from everyone's life but you can't quite put your finger on... I loved it to bits.
 
beer good said:
If you're up for something really headache-inducing but fun, how about Georges Perec? Either "A Void" or "Life: A User's Manual" should do the trick...
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Ooo, brilliant. I have already been reading A Void. Fabulous. (Thanks Stewart)
 
While at the library yesterday to pick up From A Crooked Rib by Nuruddin Farah( a great short read btw), I paused at the sale cart and found a copy of Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame. I didn't hesitate to plunk asome spare change into the donation can so it could be mine!
 
In case I haven't mentioned it before, it turns out that Vladimir Vionovich was born in Tajikstan. The Fur Hat is the easiest read of his books.

Blurb:

In this satire of Soviet life, an insecure but much-published novelist, Yefim Rakhlin, learns that the Writers' Union is giving fur hats to its members based on their importance, and that he rates only fluffy tomcat.
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There was some other obscure, not to them obviously, country I'd found a writer for, but it's gone now. I'll remember later.

K-S
 
abecedarian said:
While browsing around for background info on Boris Akunin, I found this site with a list of other Russian writers of note. I thought I'd share and see if anyone else is familiar with these folks. http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/literature/

I thought Sergey Dovlatov's name was familiar. I read his Time Gifts earlier this year..great book.
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Thanks for the link, there is some interesting stuff on there. I'll have a further browse when I get chance.

The last I heard about Akunin was seeing the start of an interview with him on, I think, Newsnight, which is BBC TV's flagship nightly news show. He was talking about the difficulties he was facing during the current tensions between Russia & Georgia. If I remember correctly he was wondering if he was going to get deported by the Russia authorities, as is happening with many Georgians at the moment.
In case you haven't already done so, it might be worth doing a search for Akunin on this site, as I think myself and Sergo talked about him.

How are you getting on with the Winter Queen? I've read all of Akunin's books that have been translated into English, and if I remember rightly that one was the first. I also seem to remember the backcover describing it as a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. An odd description, but perhaps not an inaccurate one. I quite like Akunin's books. They're not exactly high literature, but they're not supposed to be. It's just good old-fashioned detective mystery with a Russian twist. Apparently this kind of detective fiction is very popular in Russia, but a lot of it sounds pretty hack. I think Akunin is the one who has made it into translation because he's head and shoulders above the pack.

For what it's worth, if you decide to read any more of his books I think the next one in the Fandorin series “Turkish Gambit” is the best, Sergo mentioned it had been made into a film.

Btw: I thought you had read “The Compromise” by Dovlatov as my suggestion to cover Estonia for your OC, but didn’t like it much?

Honk-Honk,

K-S
 
Kenny Shovel said:
Thanks for the link, there is some interesting stuff on there. I'll have a further browse when I get chance.

The last I heard about Akunin was seeing the start of an interview with him on, I think, Newsnight, which is BBC TV's flagship nightly news show. He was talking about the difficulties he was facing during the current tensions between Russia & Georgia. If I remember correctly he was wondering if he was going to get deported by the Russia authorities, as is happening with many Georgians at the moment.
In case you haven't already done so, it might be worth doing a search for Akunin on this site, as I think myself and Sergo talked about him.

How are you getting on with the Winter Queen? I've read all of Akunin's books that have been translated into English, and if I remember rightly that one was the first. I also seem to remember the backcover describing it as a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. An odd description, but perhaps not an inaccurate one. I quite like Akunin's books. They're not exactly high literature, but they're not supposed to be. It's just good old-fashioned detective mystery with a Russian twist. Apparently this kind of detective fiction is very popular in Russia, but a lot of it sounds pretty hack. I think Akunin is the one who has made it into translation because he's head and shoulders above the pack.

For what it's worth, if you decide to read any more of his books I think the next one in the Fandorin series “Turkish Gambit” is the best, Sergo mentioned it had been made into a film.

Btw: I thought you had read “The Compromise” by Dovlatov as my suggestion to cover Estonia for your OC, but didn’t like it much?

Honk-Honk,

K-S
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You're right about Dovlatov, I was confusing him with Zoran- I really liked Time Gifts.

I'm having a wonderful time with The Winter Queen. I had to laugh when I read about "American" Roulette:) You're right, it isn't high brow, but it is a nice glimpse into Russian life during the time of the settling of the American West. I'm still in shock over finding it in my local library. I'd given up on finding anything useful for this challenge there. When I picked it up, I only saw that Akunin was Russian, and was glad to see he could count towards Georgia too..I found a link for his website, but I can't read Russian so all I can do is look at the pretty pictures:eek: I saw that Sergo's thread came up when I did a search here for Boris Akunin..and I almost remember seeing some of it, so I'll have to wade through the thread and see if I can locate the discussion.
 
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